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Avocado Mango Salad on a white platter topped with blue cheese
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Mango and Avocado Salad with Bacon and Blue Cheese

Avocado Mango Salad, Fresh ingredients, beautiful textures and awesome flavors.  Buttery and tropical, keep reading to see what all the fuss is about.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Mexican Fusion
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 600kcal
Author Lea Ann Brown

Ingredients

  • 4 slices bacon
  • 1/2 cup hulled pumpkin pepita seeds
  • 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
  • 1/3 cup vegetable or olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic peeled
  • small jalapeno stemmed, seeded, sliced
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • Salt
  • 1 large head Boston, bibb or butterhead lettuce leaves separated
  • 2 large ripe avocados
  • 2 ripe mangoes
  • 3/4 cup Queso Fresco Gorgonzola is great here

Instructions

  • Arrange the bacon slices between a double layer of paper towels on a microwavable plate. Microwave on high for 2 ½ to 3 ½ minutes, until crispy.
  • Pour the pumpkin seeds into a small skillet and set over medium heat. Once the first one pops, stir constantly until all have popped from flat to round, about 5 minutes. Scoop about 1/3 of them into a blender jar and add the lime juice. Pour the remainder seeds into a small dish.
  • Return the skillet to medium heat and measure in the oil. Add the garlic and jalapeno chile. Cook, stirring regularly, until the garlic is soft and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Scrape the oil, garlic and jalapeno into the blender or food processor. Add the honey and ½ teaspoon salt. Process until smooth. Taste and season with more salt if you think necessary. (It should be highly seasoned.)
  • Divide the lettuce between 4 dinner plates. Pit and the avocados, scoop flesh from the skin and cut it into slices. Cut the flesh of the mango from the pit. Peel, and slice to match the avocado pieces. 
  • Arrange the avocado and mango in the center of the lettuce. Drizzle everything with the dressing, then sprinkle with the cheese and toasted pumpkin seeds. Crumble the bacon over the top, and the salad is ready.

Notes

A Few Simple Riffs: Bacon can be replaced with flaked hot-smoked salmon, trout or other fish.
Leave out the bacon to make the salad vegetarian, or replace it with pan-grilled onion slices.
The pumpkinseeds can be replaced with pine nuts (they toast—and burn—much faster than the pumpkin seeds).
The luscious texture of mango works well with avocado, but so would ripe peach or nectarine.
The green chile could be replaced by hot ground red chile (like árbol)—sprinkle it over the salad rather than blending it with the dressing.
Crumbled goat cheese is a good stand-in for Mexican queso fresco.
Over-the-Top Crab-Avocado-Mango Salad: Sprinkle a generous portion of crab over the avocado and mango before drizzling with dressing.
This recipe is adapted from Rick Bayless.

Nutrition

Calories: 600kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 51g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 30mg | Sodium: 327mg | Potassium: 808mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 1365IU | Vitamin C: 49.6mg | Calcium: 161mg | Iron: 1.7mg