I have a hard time convincing my husband that this salsa is not a fruit salad.  He will honestly eat it strait from the bowl and if I don’t take it away from him, he will eat the whole thing before we even have a chance to put it on top of anything we eat.  Fruit salsa is so refreshing! Great for you and a great serving of fruit with your meals, so if you end up eating the whole bowl, don’t feel guilty.  feel confident you are not the only one.   I love the flavor it adds to salmon, chicken and even pork! Give it a try and see if you like it.

Here is what you will need:

1 cup mango

1 cup pineapple

1/2 cup red onions

1/2 cup red bell pepper

1/2 small jalapeño, seeds removed (optional)

1/3 cup finely diced cilantro

2 tablespoons fresh squeezed pineapple juice

1 teaspoon lime juice. Or 1/8 of a lime

salt

Let’s get started.  if you have ever cut a pineapple you probably dread the idea of doing it.  It is sticky, messy and you end up wasting half of it by the time you are done.  I will give you a few pointers on how I do it and maybe it will make you feel differently.  If you are more visual, you can look for youtube videos on how to cut pineapple too.  I don’t use a pineapple cutter and this method works just fine for me, with minimal waste. The top of your pineapple has prickly leaves that make it hard to hold while you cut.  What I do is, cut those to create a handle.

  

holding onto the handle you just created, remove the outer layer, skinning the outside of the pineapple with a knife.  Cut off only the green parts of the outer layer.  try to be a minimalist and waste as little as you can.  I have no idea what to call them, without googling it, but you should see brown circular spikes that are left over.  If you look at the pattern, they spiral around the outside of the pineapple.  Take a knife and make v shaped cuts to remove them.  Once completed, cut the base and top of the pineapple off and slice into fourths.  Next you need to remove the core.  by cutting it into fourths, each quarter should have a rounded side and a side that comes to a point.  Stand the quartered pineapple piece on end and make a cut one fourth of an inch into that corner piece, cutting top to bottom.  What you should have left is a core-less piece of  piece of pineapple.  If it is hard to eat, you didn’t cut enough off.  Once the core is removed, I usually cut each quarter in half again before dicing.

 

Next, dice your Mango.  Mangoes  can be hard to cut as well, but not near as difficult as a pineapple.  They have a flat pit in the middle, that is rather large.  It is hard to tell which direction the pit is sitting inside of the mango.  I will make a cut 1/2 inch into the side, not down the middle.  Slicing the side off of the mango.  Once you have a piece cut off, you will need to remove the skin.  The easiest way I have found to remove the skin is with a glass.  Press one end of the mango slice up against the inside of a glass.  try to get the skin on the outside and the flesh of the mango on the inside.  slide the mango down the inside of the glass, removing the skin.  You can also pre-dice before removing the skin in the same way, but i found it easier to remove the skin, then dice.

 

 

Make sure to dice your peppers, onions , mango and pineapple all the same size. Uniformity is key to the flavor. Measure each ingredient and add to the bowl. Once you have everything prepared, place everything into a bowl and mix well to combine.  I squeezed an eighth of a lime and two pieces of pineapple into the bowl before seasoning to add more moisture.   Season with salt to your liking and serve.

 

Enjoy!