Ah, the mango-habanero marriage. Bright, fresh heat that bursts through your mouth and nose like the sun warms your skin when you turn your face up to it. Yeah; yeah I am being poetic because what’s happening when you mix orange habenero peppers with ripe mango is f**king amazing. Throw in some pineapple, cilantro, lime juice, and red onion….dear god.

So, how do you get that action? I love a good salsa, so let’s start there.

Mango-Habanero Salsa

Ingredients

• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 2 habanero peppers, chopped
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
• 1 small, ripe mango, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped, red onion
• Juice from 1 lime
• Salt to taste

Prep

• Set out your blender or food processor and add all of the ingredients to it.
• Depending on how you like your salsa (chunky or smooth) process it until you are happy with the texture.
• Transfer to a bowl or tupperware and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Ok, I have salsa, so now what?

Well, my friend, I will list the pairings in order of raddness with this salsa.

• Shrimp
• White, mild fish
• Shredded chicken
• Shredded pork
• Diced chicken
• Diced pork

You can also just scoop it up with chips and make the magic happen that way.

But what would be the ideal recipe for this?

Pineapple and Shrimp Street Tacos

Ingredients

• 1 pound fresh shrimp – de-shelled and tails removed
• 1 8oz can diced pineapple chunks, drained
• 1 medium vadalia or other sweet onion, chopped into large chunks
• Chopped cilantro
• Extra virgin olive oil or Grapeseed oil
• Corn Tortillas
• Salt and pepper

Prep

• You can either use a standard outdoor grill, an electric grill, or a cast iron stove top grill, depending on what you have available.
• Brush oil all over your ingredients, except cilantro. Season with a dusting of salt, and then pepper.
• With a paper towel, rub a little oil on your grill space if you are using an electric or cast iron stove top grill.
• Once your grill is hot, spread your ingredients, except cilantro, on the grill and cook for approximately 3 minutes per side. The goal is to lightly char the veggies and cook the shrimp until it is translucent.
• While your fillings are cooking, heat up your tortillas over an open burner on your stove. Store them in a tortilla warmer until you are finished heating them all up.

Pineapple and Shrimp Skewers

• The prep is almost identical, but for ingredients, buy pineapple rings and chop them in larger chunks, in some cherry tomatoes, and cut the sweet onion into large chunks.
• Thread on a wood skewer soaked in water or a metal skewer and brush with olive oil. You can sprinkle salt and pepper, too, if you like.
• Heat on your grill for about 3 minutes per side to char the veggies and get the shrimp translucent.

If you want a really light dish, just serve each person two tacos (or skewers) with the salsa spread over them and sprinkled with cilantro. If you need some starch to keep you full, I recommend a plain rice, like basmati, with a little butter and salt. You have so much flavor, just don’t make a starchy side with loads of spice to compete with your main course.

~Nom On