Mango, Tomato and Red Onion Salad

This salad makes an appetizing starter. The mango needs to be under-ripe so that it is not too sweet and still hold a good bit of firmness and does not break up when slicing. To add a little extra for a full meal add some sliced continental ham, chopped chorizo, flaked Cajun grilled chicken, strips of spicy marinated and grilled tuna, Carpaccio of tuna or slices of smoked salmon.

Ingredients:

1 firm under-ripe mango

2 large tomatoes, sliced

½ red onion, sliced into rings

½ cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced

Snipped chives to garnish

For the Dressing:

30ml sunflower oil

15ml lemon juice

1 clove garlic, crushed

2.5ml hot pepper sauce

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Halve the mango lengthways, cutting either side of the stone. Cut the flesh into slices and peel away the skin.

Arrange the tomatoes, cucumber and mango on a large serving plate.

To make the dressing, blend the oil, lemon juice, pepper sauce and seasoning in a blender or food processor, or place the dressing ingredients in a screw top jar and shake vigorously.

Pour the dressing over the salad and serve garnished with snipped chives.

Chicken Tikka Mango Wraps

Chicken Tikka Mango Wraps

Ingredients:

200g chicken tikka mini fillets, chopped

75g sour cream

4 soft flour tortilla wraps

50g iceberg lettuce

½ ripe mango, peeled and thinly sliced

½ red onion, peeled and thinly sliced

Spicy potato wedges to serve

Method:

Spread sour cream over each tortilla wrap. At one end of each tortilla, arrange the lettuce, mango, red onion and chicken in a line. Fold in the edges to contain the filling and roll the whole tortilla into a sausage shape.

Halve each rolled up tortilla diagonally and secure with a cocktail stick. Serve with spicy potato wedges.

Chicken and Mango Stir-Fry

Chicken and Mango Stir-Fry

Ingredients:

375g mini chicken fillets

30ml sunflower oil

1 red onion, peeled and sliced

1 red and 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and sliced

100g mangetout

5ml chopped ginger

1 mango, peeled and cut into strips

Juice of 1 lime

50ml sweet chilli sauce

10ml light soy sauce

1 lime cut into wedges to garnish

Method:

Heat half the oil in a wok or large frying pan. Add the chicken and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add the remaining oil to the pan and stir-fry the onion and peppers for 2 minutes. Add the mangetout and ginger and cook for a further minute.

Return the chicken to the pan and add the mango, lime juice, chilli sauce and soy sauce. Stir-fry for 2 minutes.

Serve immediately with noodles, garnished with lime wedges.

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Sticky Chicken with Mango Salsa

Sticky Chicken with Mango Salsa
Be careful not to burn the glaze.

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts, skinned

Zest of 1 lime

Juice of 2 limes

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

10 ml olive oil

30ml honey

15ml tomato sauce

5ml soy sauce

5ml grainy mustard

For the Salsa:

1 small red onion, peeled and diced

1 mango, stoned, peeled and diced

8 cherry tomatoes, chopped

Method:

Cut the chicken into thin strips. Mix the juice from 1 lime with the garlic in a shallow dish. Coat the chicken strips and leave to marinate for at least 20 minutes.

Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Remove the chicken strips from the marinade and transfer to the pan. Cook over a medium heat for 2 minutes on each side. Remove from the heat.

Mix in the honey, tomato sauce, soy sauce and mustard in a bowl. Brush over the chicken on both sides. Return the pan to a low heat and cook for 3 minutes on each side.

Make the salsa by mixing the onion, zest and juice from the remaining lime, diced mango and chopped tomatoes in a bowl. Serve the chicken with a large spoonful of salsa. 

Cook's Tip

Don't have the heat too high after the glaze has been applied or it may burn. 

You can pour any glaze left in the pan over the cooked chicken.

Caprese Salad with Roasted Mango Dressing

Ingredients:1 green (unripe) mango
2 tablespoons minced fresh coriander leaf, plus extra picked leaves for garnish
2 quarter-size coins peeled fresh ginger
1/2 Fresno chilli (or 1 jalapeno pepper), seeded if desired, and chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1/2 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
4 assorted heirloom or vine-ripened red tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
1 ball fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices (or 1 package mozzarella medallions)
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Method:Preheat the oven to 220 C.
Wrap the mango in aluminium foil, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roast it for 1 hour, rotating halfway through. The mango should be soft. Remove the foil and let it cool.
When the mango is cool enough to handle with your hands, slice off the cheeks and scoop the flesh into a small food processor or blender. Repeat with the remaining mango, scooping as much flesh off as possible. Add the minced coriander, ginger, chilli, cumin, vinegar, olive oil and honey or maple syrup. Blend until smooth and add a little water if the dressing is too thick.
Arrange the tomatoes and mozzarella on a platter and season them with salt and pepper. Drizzle with a few tablespoons of the mango dressing and a little extra olive oil. Top with some picked fresh coriander leaves and it's ready to serve.

Sweet Summer Smoothies

For the bottom layer, blend:

2 bananas
2 nectarines
1 mango 

Add water and ice as needed and toss in some hulled and sliced strawberries for added sweetness.

For the top layer, blend:
250ml Cherries
250ml Blackberries  

Pour the top layer over the back of a teaspoon onto the bottom layer. Top with a couple of whole blackberries and a sprig of mint.

YUM!

July Fruit and Vegetables

Summer is now well entrenched and, as far as fruit and vegetables are concerned, we are in our seventh heaven; Nature truly spoils us this month with a luscious array of colourful produce. Whole ranges of tomatoes, courgettes, sweetcorn and other quintessential summer vegetables are available in copious quantities.

July sees a glut of tomatoes, which although they are not one of the UK's great crops as we don't get enough sun for them under normal conditions, those grown under' plastic' give the Mediterranean tomatoes a run for their money while the weather is good. All sorts of tomatoes are available: the beef tomato, which is great for salads and cooking, cherry tomatoes, wonderful in salads and pastas, and plum tomatoes, too tough for eating raw, but with solid flesh and good flavour that make them perfect for curries and sauces are the best to look for.

Summer is also salad season, and July is one of the peak months for salad ingredients: lettuces, cucumbers and spring onions as well as the ubiquitous tomato. To complete any salad, a dressing made with the new season garlic, which should now be available from France and Italy, puts the finishing touch.

The two other vegetable stars of July are sweetcorn and peas, a couple of vegetables that are not worth buying fresh any time other than now. I can't think of any vegetable more delicious than peas straight out of the pod or a mealie cob picked from the maize field, boiled and served with butter soon after picking! Both of these vegetables, when picked, are packed full of sugar that can make them additively sweet. But that sugar doesn't last very long. These vegetables continue to act as if they were still 'alive' after picking, using their sugar as food or converting it into starch. Sugar loss can be as high as 40% in 6 hours, which leads to a drastic drop in sweetness. The solution is to buy directly from a farm where they are picked daily, or even more frequently, or to pick them yourself and cook them immediately, where possible. If you can't cook them on the same day as picking, refrigeration storage will slow the rate of sugar loss.

Summer fruits are at their best in July, with mountains of berries and stone fruits just begging to be used. With the wonderful weather to begin the month, the English strawberries are ripening under the warm sunshine and the first raspberries are appearing with their succulent combination of acidity and sweetness. This is the time to use these berry fruits, for jam-making, baking, fruit salads or just enjoying them one berry at a time straight from the bush if you should be so lucky. July is probably the best month for making jams and preserves. The cheapest way to buy, which is important for jam makers, is by going to a 'Pick Your Own Farm', or if you don't have one in your area, is to find a farmer's market, where the quality will be good and the prices reasonable.

Cherries, peaches and nectarines should also be making a good showing this month, but choose these fruit carefully as they are picked while under-ripe to help them withstand the long journey they make to grace the shelves of our stores. sometimes they don't ripen; a trick to get them to ripen is to store them in the fridge in a paper bag. Some supermarkets sell ripe-picked stone fruit at a premium price; they may deserve the premium, but sometimes not. Less than perfect fruit can be used for puddings and preserves.

Of the fruit that is available in July, apart from our own previously mentioned berries and stone-fruit, much of the best fruit comes from more southerly climes. Melons are in good supply, succulent and sweet, making them suitable for fruit salads and for serving with cold meats, hams and spicy sausages.

A fruit that is available most of the year, but at it's best in summer is the mango, which come from Pakistan and India. If you are lucky enough to live near an Asian food store, they may have boxes of this delicious fruit from a source of their own at a more reasonable price than you may find in your local supermarket.

Mango Chutney

Mango chutney is a perfect accompaniment to any Indian or South East Asian meal. The best mangoes to use for this chutney are those which are not quite ripe, but not too green. If the mangoes are too ripe they will break up too much during the cooking of the chutney and give a mushy result, which you don't want. The chutney should be chunky, thick and juicy.

Ingredients:
1.5Kg mangoes, peeled, stoned and chopped into 1cm cubes.
75g cooking salt
2 litres water
450g sugar
600ml white wine vinegar
2 inch root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, crushed
10ml hot chilli powder
1 cinnamon stick
125g pitted dates
125g raisins

Method:
Put the mangoes in a bowl with the salt and 2 litres of water. Cover with cling film and set aside for 24 hours.

Put the sugar and vinegar into a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Stir in the mangoes, then add all the remaining ingredients. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about an hour and a half, or until the chutney is reduced and thickened.

Remove the cinnamon stick from the mixture and ladle the chutney into warmed, sterilised jars. Seal the jars, label and store in a cool place until ready to use. Makes about 2 x 500g jars and can be stored for up to 6 months.

Spiced Chicken Kebabs

Whether for a quick supper, for party food or for a braai or barbecue, meat on a stick always goes down well. These chicken skewers are easy to make and delicious.

Ingredients:
For the Chicken Kebabs:
2 eggs
10ml ground cumin
10ml chilli powder
5ml white pepper
5ml garum masala
60g coriander leaves, finely chopped
20ml grated root ginger
12 cashew nuts, ground
1 onion, finely chopped
30ml vegetable oil
1kg chicken breasts, minced
2ml salt

For the minted mango yoghurt:
150ml natural yoghurt
30-50ml mango chutney
20-30ml mint sauce

Method:
To make the Kebabs:
Soak 6 wooden skewers in cold water for about an hour. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl then add the remaining ingredients. Mix well, blending with the fingers to bring the meat together like sausage meat. Divide into 6 equal portions, then with wet hand, shape each portion around one of the wet wooden skewers to form a smooth long sausage. Put in the fridge for an hour to firm up.
Cook the chicken skewers over a medium-high heat on a flat griddle plate or a ridged griddle pan, turning over or twice until the meat is browned at the edges and cooked through.
Serve with minted mango yoghurt.

To make the Minted Mango Yoghurt:
Mix the three ingredients together and serve with the chicken skewers in a separate bowl.