Sunshine in a Box

Last week, I was complaining to a friend in Florida about the awful weather we’re having in Oregon this January. Incredible amounts of rain have caused millions of dollars in damages, needing services from Water Damage Restoration Services Toms River NJ, and Oregon has seen the worst floods since the ‘100 year flooding’ that occurred in 1996. “I haven’t seen the sun in days,” I said.

As I whined about my weather woes, my friend said she would send me some sunshine in a box. She didn’t give me any details, but simply said, “be sure to open it as soon as you receive it.”

While at the mail box today, I was excited to see that the package had arrived, and I ran through the rain to get home as soon as possible. Much to my surprise, and delight, inside the box and wrapped in orange and yellow tissue paper, there were three fresh, ripe mangoes and a bottle of Vitamin D. She knows me well.

You see, I love the sun and I love mangoes. When I lived in Florida, you’d catch me every now and then with a bowl full of fresh sliced mango chunks, sitting pool side with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. I immediately started thinking about what I would do with my specially picked Floridian mangoes-I felt they deserved to be added into a recipe worth every bite.

After searching through my favorite recipe web site, myrecipe.com, and taking a Vitamin D tablet, I came across the perfect summer in January recipe: Mango Avocado Shrimp Salad. After a quick trip to Market of Choice, I had the ingredients I needed; including, a bottle of Kandarian Wine Cellars 2010 Blue Eye Sauvignon Blanc.

While I chilled the wine, I prepared this super easy-to-make dish in under 20 minutes.

Recipe for a rainy pseudo-sunny Oregon January day-Mango Avocado Shrimp Salad

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil (I used Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 large firm-ripe mangoes
• 2 medium firm-ripe avocados
• 2/3 c. each chopped cilantro and sliced green onion
• 1/2 tsp. dried red pepper flakes
• 1 lb. peeled, cooked shrimp

Preparation (so easy):

1. In a large bowl, whisk together lime juice, oil, and sugar until sugar dissolves.
2. Dice mangoes and avocados into 3/4-in. cubes; add to bowl. Add green onion, cilantro, red pepper flakesand shrimp. Mix gently. Serve or cover and chill for up to 1 hour.

I didn’t bother covering and chilling-I couldn’t wait to dip into my summer salad and one of my favorite local wines, the Kandarian Sauvignon Blanc. By the way, did you know Jeff Kandarian is the winemaker at King Estate Winery? Yes, and he’s one of the best winemakers in the Willamette Valley.

The crisp, clean citrus flavors of the Sauvignon Blanc sang in harmony with the shrimp, sweet mango, and perfectly ripened avocados. The fresh and citrus-like flavors of the cilantro really tied this outstanding pairing together, and it was pure Florida summer sunshine on a rainy winter Oregon day. Oh, and my iPod was playing Jimmy Buffett, too.

Since we can’t get fresh mango here in the winter months, try Dole’s Fresh Tropical Fruit in a jar – it’s mangos and pineapple. Another option would be to replace the mango with the “Cutie’s” that are in all the stores this time of year. Go for it! Don’t wait another minute. Give yourself a little dose of some home made sunshine.