Recipe: Mango salad
Packed with punchy flavours and contrasting textures, this salad is a truly fulfilling meal in itself
There’s so much brightness and freshness to this salad, says Zoe Alakija. Packed with punchy flavours and contrasting textures, it’s truly a fulfilling meal in itself – though it also pairs beautifully with most main courses.
Serves 6-8
- 3 mangoes, diced
- 2 medium avocados, peeled, stoned and diced
- 1 red pepper, finely diced
- ½ a red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 round lettuce, roughly chopped
- 100g pomegranate seeds
- handful of fresh coriander and mint, chopped
- 2½ tbsp pomegranate molasses
- 1 lime, to garnish
For the candied peanuts
- 100g unsalted peanuts
- 60g light brown sugar
- sprinkling of chilli powder
- pinch of fine salt
For the dressing
- 40ml avocado oil
- 2 limes, zested and juiced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp light brown sugar
- large pinch of fine salt
- large pinch of chilli flakes
Method
- Start with the candied peanuts. Roughly crush the peanuts using a rolling pin (you can do this while they are still in the bag, if you wish).
- Combine them with all the other ingredients and 25ml of water in a wide frying pan over a medium heat.
- Keep stirring until the peanuts caramelise and turn brown, thick and sticky. Remove before they burn.
- Tip the peanuts onto a lined or greased tray and spread them out as much as you can to make sure they don’t clump together. Leave to cool.
- For the dressing, put all the ingredients in a small jug and mix well. (If you can’t find avocado oil, vegetable oil will do.)
- When ready to serve, put the mango, avocado, red pepper, onion, lettuce, pomegranate seeds and herbs in a large bowl. Toss gently to mix. Spatter the pomegranate molasses across the dish.
- Drizzle the dressing over the salad and scatter the peanuts evenly across its surface. Serve fresh, garnished with the lime, cut into wedges.
- If you like, add a scattering of chilli flakes for more heat.
Taken from Afro Vegan by Zoe Alakija, published by Hoxton Mini Press at £20. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £15.99, call 020-3176 3835 or visit theweekbookshop.co.uk.
