Mango & Cucumber Salad

This is a salad inspired by a recipe in Bon Appetit featuring a restaurant in Oakland CA called Miss Ollie’s specializing in island food. The recipe required 1 scotch bonnet chile or a habanero chile thinly sliced and chopped cilantro, both of which I forgot to get so used parsley and watercress instead. The main ingredient being a firmly ripe mango not mushy and an English hothouse cucumber (one of those long seedless ones) and, surprisingly no oil. I think the chile would have been too overpowering for me, the salad is really refreshing. Our mint and chives are coming up in the garden, so I added those as well and a couple of grapes cut in half.


Ingredients

1 large shallot
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup fresh lime juice ( I used lemon juice as no limes in fridge)
1 teasp. kosher salt
2 ripe but firm mangoes (I only had one but would use 2 next time)
1 long seedless cucumber
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (or parsley)
Freshly ground pepper
Watercress (optional)
Mint Leaves
Chives

Directions

In a bowl put 1 large shallot, thinly sliced into rings, 2 cloves garlic finely chopped, 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (or lemon juice), 1 teaspoon Kosher salt, and mix together.
Peel 2 mangoes and cut into 1 inch chunks, peel the cucumber and slice crosswise, add to the bowl and toss. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes and just before serving add chopped cilantro, (or parsley) and some watercress.
Really you can add a few leaves of anything, I added a few baby spinach leaves I had in the fridge, some mint leaves and chopped chives. Threw in 6 grapes cup in half!
Season with pepper and toss well.