Recipe: Cucumber Mango Salsa with Avocado

Here in Southern California, chips and salsa could almost be made into their own category of food. That, and avocados, are just a few of the many perks to living in a Mexico-border-town, with access to great produce year-round. This is a recipe I created for a delicious, chunky, super fresh salsa. Inspired by my longings for summer heat and backyard fiestas.

Ingredients: 

• 1 large ripe avocado
• 1 large ripe mango
• 1-2 small baby/seedless cucumbers
• 3 small tomatoes (or the equivalent in large)
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1/8-1/4 red onion
• 1/2-2 peppers of choice (depending on spice preference, I used 1 jalapeno in mine)
• 2 fresh garlic cloves
• Juice of half a lemon
• Salt & pepper 

I prefer to use the baby/seedless cucumbers, as they tend to be crisper and "fresher" tasting than regular-sized cucumbers. For the mangos, this is a little trick I learned as a kid. I've been cutting my mangos like this ever since! It's super easy and clean to do. Simply cut the mango in half (because of the pit, you can't cut it exactly in half, but you get the idea) then make a cross-stitch pattern with a paring knife, cutting to but not through the skin. Once you have your little squares cut out, simply "pop" the mango pieces out by folding the skin back with both hands.

Once all of your ingredients are diced, mix them in a bowl with the lemon juice, salt and pepper (to taste). I mixed the avocado in last, which works as a nice "glue" to keep all of the chunky delightfulness together and sticking on your chip! This is such a delicious snack, it could be eaten with a fork and spoon. I used mine (pictured above) to top off a breakfast burrito with scrambled eggs, mixed greens, pepper jack cheese, and sour cream. 

Bon appetite!