I love mango, and especially love it in salsa! Several years ago I was playing around with making mango salsa and I got the idea to combine it with couscous. This colorful dish has ended up being one of my top ten favorite recipes - one that I make over and over again. It is fresh and tropical and goes great with any kind of chicken, fish, or shrimp that has a citrus base. I will eat it even as my main dish, it is that good!
I make this dish with Israeli couscous (sometimes called maftoul in the Middle Eastern section on the market) which has a larger grain than regular couscous. This can be difficult to find, but recently I have found it at Trader Joes. If you live in the Detroit metro area, you can likely find it at one of our many Middle Eastern markets. I'm sure it would work with regular couscous, but I love the texture of the larger couscous.
Mango Salsa CouscousTo make the couscous:
1 1/2 cups Israeli couscous
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup water
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Combine the broth, juice, and water in a pan and heat until warm. Meanwhile, in another large shallow pan (I use a Dutch oven), heat the olive oil. Add the couscous and toast it, stirring it constantly, until golden brown (about 5 minutes). Add the warm broth and stir. Reduce to medium heat and boil until the liquid disappears. Set aside to cool.
To make the salsa:
2 0r 3 mangoes
1 red pepper
1/2 sweet onion
1 bunch of cilantro
juice of one lime
salt to taste
First cut the mango into pieces. I like to score the mango in 2 directions and turn it, so the mango pops up in cubes that you can easily cut off.
Cut the red pepper and onion into medium sized chunks. Cut the tops off the cilantro. Stick it all into a food processor. Use the pulse to chop it all together. Remove from the processor. (If you don't have a processor, you could chop it all by hand.)
Combine the salsa and the couscous together. Add salt and the juice of one lime and blend.
Serve chilled.
