This easy summer salad combines crunchy cucumber with diced sweet mango and creamy avocado for a refreshing side dish. Top with my 7 minute lemon ginger vinaigrette to give this salad some zingy flavor. The salad and dressing come together in less than 25 minutes.
Be sure to check out more of my summer salads including my cold roasted baby potato salad with lemon (no mayo or egg), summer fresh green bean salad with fresh corn and my sweet and tangy fresh peach mint salad.
The Perfect Salad
Salads are a great way to mix different flavors. In my cooking 101 flavor tutorials, I discuss how combining sweet, salty, bitter and sour is the way to make something super tasty. So the perfect salad is a combination of different flavors. Sweet mango, tangy dressing and bitter, zingy ginger combine in this salad to make your taste buds sing.
But don’t forget about the often neglected textures too. When a dish has creamy, crunchy and chewy ingredients, it adds to the tastiness. This salad combines crunchy cucumber, soft mango, chewy pomegranate seeds and creamy rich avocado for the perfect mouth feel – such an important (and often neglected) part of making a dish satisfying.
Ingredients
Mango – Look for a ripe mango that has a good amount of give. This means it will be sweet and flavorful.
The video and recipe card below include visuals to help you safely cut a mango for a salad. Mangoes are wobbly and slippery so I’ll help you keep from shooting your slippery mango across the kitchen :).
Persian cucumbers are by far my favorite cuke. Their skin is mild flavored (not bitter) and tender enough to leave on. I prefer the skin on to add to its excellent crunch.
I have included pomegranate seeds even though they are a fall fruit. They add a chewy, sweet and tangy pop to the other flavors and make this a pretty salad. I highly recommend buying the seeds ready-to-go. Despite watching many YouTube videos, I have yet to find a way to seed a pomegranate without making a complete and total mess.
Green onion adds a little pungent flavor to this salad. Their slight bitterness balances so well with the sweet elements to make this a savory salad.
My lemon ginger vinaigrette has just 5 ingredients and comes together in 7 minutes with the use of a blender (or smoothie maker). It’s an excellent complement to this salad. The tart lemon and zingy ginger enhance the sweet and savory ingredients.
Make Ahead
If you need to prepare the salad more than 12 hours ahead of time, I recommend keeping the ingredients separate and assemble right before serving. This is mostly for aesthetic reasons.
So chop the cucumber and green onion, dice the mango and make the lemon ginger vinaigrette. You can pack the mango, onion and cuke in the same container. Cut the avocado at the last minute so it doesn’t turn brown. Then toss it all together when you’re ready to serve.
Summer Persian Cucumber Salad with Mango
Ingredients
- Β½ c lemon ginger vinaigrette dressing
- 3-4 persian cucumbers
- 1-2 medium sized ripe mangoes
- 1-2 small-medium sized avocadoes
- ΒΌ c chopped green onion (1-2 stalks)
- Β½ c pomegranate seeds I recommend buying the seeds ready to go
Instructions
- Make the lemon ginger vinaigrette. It mixes up in the blender in just a few minutes.
- I recommend keeping a 1 cup measuring cup at your cutting board. Place the ingredients in the measuring cup as you chop to make sure you get about the right amount. It's not necessary to be extremely exact.
- Slice the cucumbers lengthwise and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. Persian cucumbers are not super watery so you don't have to scrape all the way to the flesh.
- Then cut each piece in half lengthwise and cut into half inch slices. You should have about 2 cups.
- Trim a thin slice off the top and bottom of the mango.
- Stand the mango up on the bottom and use a knife to trim off the peel, following the contour of the fruit.
- Cut off the wide pieces, then trim any smaller pieces off the pit. Then dice into 1/2 inch pieces, enough to get 1Β½ cups.
- Cut the avocado in half and remove the pit. Use a small knife to cut lengthwise and horizontally (do not cut through the skin) creating ΒΌ-Β½ inch pieces.
- Then use a spoon to scoop it out of the skin. You should have about 1ΒΌ cups.
- Slice the green onion into quarter inch rounds – enough for 1/4 cup.
- Place all of the ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Add 1/2 cup of the dressing and stir to thoroughly coat all the ingredients.
- Taste. You may need to adjust the flavor a little bit. If your mangoes are not terribly sweet you may want to add a teaspoon of sweetener. If it's a little blah or lacking something you can't put your finger on, add a couple of pinches of salt.
- This salad will stay fresh, refrigerated for 3-4 days.
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