Jicama-Mango Salsa with Chipotle ♥

Jicama-Mango Salsa with Chipotle, another summer appetizer ♥ A Veggie Venture, more smoky than spicy. Super Low Cal. Weight Watchers Freestyle Friendly. Raw. Vegan. Whole30. Gluten Free.
Say hello! hello! hello! to the summer's new salsa, an alluring combination of crunchy jicama and sweet mango, all bound up with a little lime juice and chipotle and brightened with cilantro. Add a few chips? Summer's sweet spot.

Great for Meal Prep. Low Carb. Low Fat. Raw. Weight Watchers Friendly & Freestyle Friendly. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real. Naturally Gluten Free. Whole30 Friendly. And of course? Delicious!


Can You Judge a Salsa By Its "Cover"? Not This Salsa!

GOOD TASTE First bite, I was disappointed with this salsa but put it in the refrigerator, thinking the flavors might meld. Then while jotting down a few recipe notes (that's where ALANNA'S TIPS come from!), oops, I realized that I'd forgotten an important ingredient, chipotle. So out came the salsa and in went the chipotle. Wow, what a huge difference! Just one teaspoon adds a small touch of heat but an intoxicating measure of smokiness.

GOOD LOOKS And no doubt, I expected this salsa to be prettier in the looks department. Again: it's the chipotle. It makes all the difference, muddling the fresh colors of jicama-white and mango-orange. But still: that single teaspoon of chipotle is totally worth it taste-wise.

And besides, if my book club is any guide, Jicama-Mango Salsa isn't going to last long anyway.

Kathy: "I can't stop eating this!"
Ann: "What's in this? It's great!"

And the next night, I made another batch, this time using a mini food processor in an attempt to shave off some prep time. My husband and I polished it off, just the two of us, on a pretty spring evening sitting outside. He was half-surprised to learn that "dinner" was to follow!

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JICAMA-MANGO SALSA with CHIPOTLE

Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Time to table: 30 minutes
Makes 3 cups

3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt
1/2 medium jalapeño, minced tiny-tiny (about 7g)
1/2 cup red onion, minced tiny-tiny (about 55g)
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon chipotle
1 small jicama (about 12oz/340g), skin sliced off and diced very small (about 8oz/225g)
2 mangoes, diced very small (about 225g)
1 cup finely chopped cilantro
Freshly ground pepper

TO CHOP & MIX BY HAND
Grate the garlic on a microplane, you want to yield about 1-1/2 teaspoons. (No microplane? With the flat of a knife, smash the garlic and salt together until it forms a garlicky-salty mush.) Collect the garlic and all remaining ingredients in a bowl. Serve and savor!

TO USE A MINI FOOD PROCESSOR (saves about 5 minutes)
Chop the garlic and kosher salt together in the mini food processor until very fine, you may have to scrape the sides a time or two. Roughly chop the jalapeño, add it to the processor and chop until fine. Roughly chop the red onion, add it to the processor and chop until fine. Transfer the chopped mixture to a bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Serve and savor!

MAKE-AHEAD For maximum freshness, make and eat the salsa within about 4 hours. Still, it's definitely remains fresh enough to enjoy the next day, it won't go to waste.

RESOURCES A mini food processor is a real workhorse in my kitchen, especially for small batches and chopping things that would just get lost in a bigger food processor. My Disclosure Promise

ALANNA'S TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
With a sharp knife, dice both the jicama and mango as small as you can manage. I tried doing the jicama in the food processor, nope, it just turns to mush. And besides, jicama is super-easy to dice up.
WHAT IS CHIPOTLE? Chipotle are smoked poblano peppers. Buy them in small cans labeled "chipotle in adobo sauce" or something similar. Inside, you'll find pieces of chile in a brown adobo sauce. Some recipes just call for just the chile or just the adobo sauce, they're both really spicy. But I like to run the contents of a just-opened can through a mini food processor to combine the two, then it keeps in the refrigerator for a long while (my current container is a year old) to use a teaspoon or two at a time. Oh! And while there's still a bit of the combined mixture in the food processor, make a chipotle version of My Everyday Creamy Herb Salad Dressing, so so good!
IS THIS SALSA SPICY? Just a little bit, though to my taste it's more smoky than spicy: and that's a good description because my heat-averse husband didn't even mention it. Real heat seekers might want to amp up both the jalapeño and chipotle.
ONION Red onion is perfect for this salsa. White onion is a little harsh, a sweet onion would probably be fine.
I served Jicama-Mango Salsa with Trader Joe's Longboard Tortilla Chips for my book club one night (excellent non-greasy chips with a high ratio of salsa:chip, 3 chips per SmartPoint) and alongside chicken enchiladas another. It would also be great alongside fish, tucked into tacos, draped over cream cheese for an appetizer, etc. Very handy, this!



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A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the
famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

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Alanna Kellogg
Alanna Kellogg

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

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