Baby Greens with Mango, Loquat and Mango Sauce

Just a short break in the travelogue to post a recipe – the name She’s Cookin’  implies cooking after all, not just eating 🙂

After being gone two weeks, I came home to fresh spinach and spring salad greens in the garden (The Don outdid himself this year)

and a refrigerator full of long past the Enjoy-By date liquids and a crisper drawer full of – well you know…

I thoughtfully arranged for a Farm Fresh To You delivery during my absence so The Don would have fresh, organic fruit to fuel his hours at the office – no more chips or take-out food since the strict orders for a low-sodium diet were handed down. He wasn’t quite sure what the golden oblong fruits were, or how to eat them. I couldn’t bear to waste the lonely overripe mangoes dotting the shelves, so peeled them and saved the sweet pulp figuring I could use it in a smoothie. Actually we feel better about the plant-based food that we have to throw out because it’s all being composted now 🙂

After a visit to the farmers market with Alisha of The Ardent Epicure, the mango pulp became  the inspiration for a sauce or vinaigrette to pair with the loquats, mulberries, and/or kohlrabi that I picked up. Naturally, we tasted and bought some very fine cheeses from Picnic’s Fine Foods (plan on savoring the Beemster Classic aged Dutch Gouda tonight with a smashing squash and carrot soup I fashioned after the Queen’s Day soup I had on the barge) and I encouraged Alisha to try a cherimoya – can’t wait to see what beautiful salad she creates from her goodies.

You can’t get any more local than baby lettuce picked from your garden and, with the pureed mango, made a creamy “salad dressing” with avocado olive oil and Greek style yogurt to complement the sweetness and acidity of the loquats and sliced mango. Since Don eats only raw fruits and nuts during the day I like to include a protein for a little more heft in his one meal a day, so a fillet of salmon with a dab of  lime butter finished the salad nicely.

Have you ever had a loquat? First time for me, so I did a little online research at Melissa’s Produce : the Loquat originated in China, but was cultivated and improved by the Japanese for more than 1,000 years. It is a small, pear-shaped, yellow to orange fruit with a thin, smooth, fuzzy skin, which resembles an apricot in size and color. Bite into this fruit and you will find three to five large brown seeds surrounded by a creamy, pale yellowish-orange flesh. The texture is reminiscent of a cherry or plum crossed with a lychee. It has a delightful balance of sweetness and acidity with a floral fruit flavor and slight honey taste.

I loved them! On to the recipe: