![]() ![]() Wrapped in tender butter lettuce and garnished with cashews for crunch, these lettuce wraps have more flavor and texture than you would expect in their small package. These lettuce wraps pack a little heat and a little sweet. It’s not often that you come across a 15-minute recipe that’s light but filling enough for a meal. Assemble the wraps and serve them family-style on a large platter, or set out all of the components in bowls and let everyone help themselves. The chicken salad, which is livened up with a touch of jalapeño, lime zest, and honey, earned rave reviews in the Test Kitchen. These no-cook lettuce wraps are impressive enough for a party but easy enough to pull off on the busiest weeknight. Stick to this tradition-you’ll enjoy licking your hands once the bowl is empty-just keep a glass of water at hand because things are bound to get spicy. On the island, we may not live in huts without electricity (as some people assume), but we do eat chow with our fingers. If you cannot locate shado beni at your local grocery store, you’re sure to find it at any West Indian or Mexican market. In chow, hard green mangoes are sliced, marinated in lime juice, and seasoned with shado beni, a spiny coriander plant. It’s a popular topping for shark and bake sandwiches, grilled meat, and anything curried-my stomach is growling just typing this. On an early morning drive to Maracas Beach, on the north coast of the island, I’ll spy vendors setting up shop to sell chow of all sorts. It’s a garlicky, spicy, tart fruit salad that’s most commonly made with mango, but apple, pineapple, pommecythere, and cucumber may show up, too. ![]() Green mangoes are an integral ingredient in Trinidadian cuisine, like kutchela, chutney, takari, and my favorite breakfast dish, chow. Failure or success, a stolen batch is always worth the scolding. (Depending on your luck, you might find one on the ground.) If Grandpa catches the thief, Arabic swear words are cast toward them, followed by one mighty steups (the sucking sound made by sticking tongue against teeth-a sure sign of irritation). One person distracts Grandpa while another climbs the tree and picks the unripe gems right off the branch. Problem: Grandpa is only willing to share his fruit once it’s fully grown, but what he doesn’t know can’t hurt him, right? His grandkids-me included-are sneaky. It bears bright yellow and orange sun-kissed fruit with a slight pink blush, and a few prized unripe green mangoes camouflaged within the leaves. Towering 35 feet over the green grass in Grandpa’s garden, casting shade over his home, stands the most majestic tree. But in my opinion, an unripe mango-what we Trinidadians call a “green mango”-trumps all. ![]() When the overwhelming heat of dawn swells in the walls of our home, sucking on the seed of an ice-cold ripe mango is pure cooling bliss. We all throw our hands up at this week’s Julie mango harvest. He enters with rosy cheeks and meticulously unfolds a blue-and-white checkered kitchen towel from a wicker basket. Grandpa’s here with breakfast, of course. sharp, my immediate family of seven rises to the sound of horns blaring at the gate. You can substitute with any paprika you like if you don’t have it.Every Sunday morning at 8 a.m. Spanish paprika is made with smoked peppers so it has a smoky flavor.Parmesan is a great substitute for this mango salad. The nut-like salty flavor of the Manchego cheese is an excellent balance to the sweet fruit.Use any basil variety you like as well.(I used a Tommy Atkins mango in this recipe.) Can check out tons of mango varieties and their availability here. You can use any mango variety you like.They should not be hard and have some give when gently pressed with your finger. Mangoes are best for salads when they’re ripe but firm.Sometimes it’s fun to artfully arrange the ingredients on a plate - and sometimes it’s preferable to save time! □ If that’s the case, cut the mango and cheese into bite-sized pieces, roughly chop the basil and toss everything with the dressing.–Arrange the mango, basil and Manchego on plates. ![]()
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