Magic mangoes, sexy salads, sweaty me — and so worth it. I had so much fun being part of Fairchild Garden’s Mango Festival, plus it gave me the opportunity to upgrade a mango recipe and give it a new tropical twist. My old quinoa and mango salad recipe is serviceable, but Mango Fest made me want to up my game. I tweaked some of the proportions, ditched a few ingredients that weren’t earning their keep and added curry powder. It helped it hit more of the Florida flavor notes I wanted and managed to do more with less. Refreshing in the mouth, it held up in the heat better than many of us. But as I told the crowd, you can’t get the mango magic without the steaminess and swelter.
Thanks to Fairchild, our tropical treasure, the crowd who braved the swelter for me and my sexy mango salads, and to the Fare to Remember team, who provided everyone with a taste.
Behold: new, improved and special for Fairchild Garden’s Mango Festival:

Quinoa with Cashews, Mango and Mint
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa rinsed and drained
- 2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 teaspoons mild sweet curry powder, like S&B
- sea salt to taste
- 1/2 cup chopped celery 2 stalks
- 2 cups fresh mango chopped (1 good-sized mango)
- 1/4 cup mint leaves chopped
- 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
- 4 cups assorted greens — arugula spinach, lettuce
- 1/3 cup cashews toasted and chopped
Instructions
- Bring water to boil in a large pot. Pour in quinoa. Give a stir, then cover, reduce heat to low and let quinoa simmer for 20 minutes. When it’s done, it should have soaked up all the liquid and the grains will reveal their endosperm tails. Remove from heat, keep the lid on and let it rest for another 10 minutes to let it dry out fully. Then fluff.
- Pour quinoa into a large bowl. Mix in coconut oil, lime juice, curry powder and sea salt. May be prepared up to this point and kept covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days.
- To assemble, gently fold chopped celery, mango, mint and cashews into the quinoa. Taste again for sea salt.
- Serve on top of the greens and garnish with the chopped cashews.
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