Garden Guy

Curt has been working hard at getting our garden started. He did something new this year. He planted lettuce outside in winter. He planted romaine, spinach, swiss chard and mesclun. I've been buying the bulk lettuce at Sam's Club. It's way too much lettuce for us to eat in a week. It ends up going bad and we throw some of it away. It is so fun to go outside and pick lettuce for a salad. He also had some nice tomato plants started. I'm already collecting some good recipes that use tomatoes.

So I've been hunting for salad recipes. I was scanning the Food Channel and saw that Simply Delicioso was making a mango salad. I taped the show and made the salad last night. It was so yummy. Eileen, you might want to try this. The salad dressing ingredients sound weird, but the peanut butter and lime tasted great together. The cilantro was so good in the salad. I didn't have any radish, but I'll try that next time.

Here is the recipe.

Mango Jicama and Radish Salad with Peanut Dressing
recipe courtesy: Ingrid Hoffmann

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
• Salt
• 8 large radishes, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
• 6 cups mixed baby greens, washed and dried
• 1 large or 2 small mangoes, peeled, fruit cut off the seed and cubed
• 2 cups peeled and cubed jicama (cut into about 1/2-inch cubes)
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

In a medium bowl, whisk the peanut butter and lime juice until smooth. Add the brown sugar, vegetable oil and some salt and whisk until combined. Add enough water to thin the sauce and give it a dressing-like consistency, about 2 to 3 tablespoons.

Place the radishes, greens, mangoes, jicama and cilantro in a large bowl and toss together.

Drizzle with the dressing, toss using tongs to coat and serve.