The heat is on! Both home and away Europe and the UK are seeing some sizzling temperatures, if you are like me and struggle to spend more than a nano second in the kitchen but are bored stupid of salad then take a lettuce leaf out of my book and mix it up.

This is my spicy mango salad, some might say a salsa. I pinched the idea many eons ago from an episode of Ready Steady Cook when Anthony Worrall Thompson threw together these ingredients and I was short of a dinner party starter with a bit of zing to serve with some fresh grilled tuna.

It goes beautifully with fish. I like to oven bake the fish so it steams in its own juices and coated with an oriental style marinade it stays moist. Experiment with flavours of Teryaki, a dash of soy, teaspoon of honey or sweet chilli sauce, drizzle of sesame oil, sprinkle of five spice, some chopped, lazy or even powdered ginger, a squeeze of lemon. all mixed and poured over the fish sealed in foil and baked in a medium oven for 15-20mins depending on the thickness of the cut of fish. The two fish I use most are tuna and salmon as they are more meaty.

The mango salad has a sweet, spicy and sour flavour which complements the oriental style of the dish and you can adapt to your taste, for example, some in my family cannot abide fresh coriander, my niece says it tastes like soap. Personally, I love it and no Asian dish tastes the same without imho! Each to their own for them I substitute with rocket, watercress or even flat leaf parsley whatever flavoursome greenery is available really. Here is the recipe, do give it a go.

Mango Salad

2 ripe mangos
Bunch of fresh coriander (or rocket, watercress or flat leaf parsley)
I red onion diced small
I fresh red chilli (with seeds = very spicy, remove seeds = less spicy) alternatively a drizzle of chilli oil to taste
Fresh lime or lemon juice

1. Cut the mangos in half along the ridge to remove the flat stone. place half in the palm of your hand and carefully run a sharp knife first in lines about a centimetre apart along the width (don’t press too hard better to take it slow and steady and not cut through the skin of either the mango or your hand!)  Rotate the mango half and repeat. You end up with a grid of cuts. Press the skin side upward and turn the half mango inside out, now you can easily push the cubes of mango off into a bowl. Repeat with the rest of the fruit.
2. Finely dice the red onion
3. Roughly chop the coriander
4. Finely slice the chilli, with or without seeds, or, drizzle with a little chilli oil to taste, some like it hot some like it not!
5. Finally, halve and squeeze the lime or a good squirt of lemon juice over the ingredients and toss together with spoons, don’t use your hands you don’t want that chilli on your fingers!

That’s it, serve with the fish which should just be coming out of the oven. Also goes well with simple grilled chicken or pork, and kebabs.