I enjoy grocery shopping. I am blessed to live in a land of plenty, and the grocery store is filled with so many choices and possibilities. True, there are things that dissatisfy – much of the produce leaves me longing for summer and the garden, I could wish for an aisle of bulk bins, and why can’t they carry Fage yogurt? For such a rural area, though, we are well provided for.
Today’s trip yielded nice one-dollar mangos, very pretty broccoli, and the seafood lady was out of the on-sale salmon fillets so she gave me steaks for the same price. One of the mangos graced the salad tonight, a winter standard on our dinner table. After the salad is made, the preparer gets to stand over the sink and scrape extra mango flesh from the pit with her teeth, with the requisite juice dribbling unattractively down her chin. It’s a good thing the camera is at the repair shop.
Salad with Mango, Red Onion, and Sweet and Spicy Pecans
serves 4 generously
1 Romaine heart, sliced lengthwise a time or two and sliced crosswise into 1” slices
a couple of thin slices of red onion (drop the rest into a Ziploc and toss it into the produce drawer for another day)
1 mango, peeled and diced
a handful of Sweet and Spicy Pecans
a handful of dried cranberries, optional
Dressing:
1 T. white wine vinegar
¼ t. salt
grinds pepper
pinch ground mustard
¼ t. sugar
Whisk together. Whisk in 3 T. canola oil in a slow dribble. Toss with the salad and serve.
Sweet and Spicy Pecans
2 T. butter, melted
2 T. sugar
1 t. seasoned salt
½ t. garlic salt
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
2 c. pecans
2 T. additional sugar
In a medium-large bowl, mix the first 5 ingredients. Toss in the nuts and stir well. Turn out onto a parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Give ‘em another five minutes if they aren’t fragrant and lightly toasted. Return to the bowl and toss in the additional 2 T. sugar. Cool completely. Store in a tightly covered jar. These keep forever in the freezer, so I nearly always have some on hand, provided I hide them from The Husband.
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