Spork and Knife

I clearly watch too many cheesy movies, hence the quote embedded in today’s title. Can you guess where it’s from? No? Come on…think a little harder. Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Keira Knightley and Parminder Nagra (the girl from ER) make up the cast. No? What if I give you the quote…

“Don’t worry, Miss Bahmra. Our designs will make even these little mosquito bites look like juicy, juicy mangoes!”

I chuckle everytime I read that. (Wow, another showcase of maturity.) Ok, I guess I’m the only one that watches movies to get a glimpse of the ohh soo talented Mr. David Beckham. And I’m watching purely to see his ability to handle a soccer ball (wink, wink, nod, nod). That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. I’m guessing you’re tired of this game so I’ll just give you the answer and move on to what the post is really about.

Bend It Like Beckham. My cheesy movie secrets are revealed. And yes, I liked the movie.

Now on to Mangoes.

It’s summer and there’s nothing like stocking up on fresh fruits and vegetables. I’ve been spending lots of time by the grill and coming up with various recipes including strawberries, blueberries and now, mangoes.

A recent fresh mango basil salsa was so easy and so good that I couldn’t keep it to myself. I pulled it from the surprisingly good cookbook, Food Network Favorites. I say surprisingly because I’ve been let down one to many times by the recipes found in Rachel Ray’s books and resigned myself to pulling from staples such as The Joy of Cooking and Cooking Light’s Annual Recipes 2008. Not this time…

Fresh Mango Basil Salsa

You’ll need:

• 1 mango, peeled and finely diced
• 3 scallions, sliced
• 5 basil leaves, julienned ( I just ripped them up)
• 1 lime, juiced
• kosher salt and freshly ground pepper (While fresh is always better, if you don’t have freshly ground pepper it’s ok.)

I wasn’t kidding when I said it was easy. Well, except for the whole “finely dice a mango part.” If you’ve never cut a mango before, check out the you tube video below. Too bad I didn’t watch this before I butchered the first mango. Note to all, even though a mango looks like an avocado they can’t be cut in the same way. Seriously. Just watch below to find out what I should have done.

I don’t want to steal the food network’s thunder, so go here for the exact recipe and instructions. Try pairing this salsa with pork or shrimp. Or just throw it in a bowl next to some tortilla chips and munch away. Enjoy!