Kroger Stardom - Cucumber, Mango, and Black Bean Salad

Bzz agent teamed up with Kroger Co again, and asked some people to test out a new mango recipe (I guess they can tell by my card history that I have purchased mangos before). I don't remember buying mangos, but that's another story. I searched high and low at our local King Soopers store, only to find that there were no mangos in the store that day. So, I scurried over to the frozen food department and grabbed some frozen mangos.

I love frozen mangos, they are so handy. You can throw them into a smoothie while still frozen, you can put them in the kids lunch and they will thaw enough to eat by the time it's lunch period, and you can thaw just as much as you need in the fridge the night before. Plus, freezing seems to make the fruit sweeter, and it does not affect the texture of the fruit at all. This is strange, because you can't freeze many fruits and vegetables without affecting the flavor. 

So, I didn't get to preview the recipe first, I had to either accept or decline. I figured why not, I can try anything once. I was surprised to see the recipe contained beans (straight from the can) and cilantro. 

Without further ado, here goes. 

I doubled the recipe so I needed 1 cup of mango.

2 cups of peeled/chopped/seeded cucumber.

1 can of black beans rinsed and drained (I got this little strainer from Amazon, I love Amazon, and it sits right over a measuring cup or bowl if you need to save liquid from something, otherwise it's just handy because it's just the right size for a job like this).

1 seeded and chopped jalapeño. That seeding tool, also from Amazon. I use it to remove seeds from peppers, squash, cucumber, etc. I also use it to pull chunks of melon out...I seriously love this tool. I even use it for slicing pieces of some softer vegetables as I hold them. Best investment for my kitchen ever.

2T of cilantro (I only had dried, but it still tasted great), juice of a lime, 2T orange juice (don't be cheap on this, of all the things in the world to be cheap on, one can not be cheap on their orange juice), and 1 tsp of salt.

Put all the ingredients in a container, add a lid, shake it up....

Bam, you have salad. Let it rest for about 15 minutes, I put it in the fridge until dinner.

I served ours with a spicy honey glazed chicken breast and some grilled potatoes (Kroger Co did suggest chicken as a pairing).

So, first bite, I was a bit scared, I'm not going to lie. Who would have thought about mango and beans straight out of a can? Well, first bite wasn't bad...so I kept eating, second bite, getting better. The family polished off the whole double recipe in one sitting. And it's so healthy for you, so full of fiber, low in carbs, and let's face it, it's delicious.

You seriously need to try this recipe. 

So, this is Kroger Co's original recipe:

CUCUMBER, MANGO & BLACK BEAN SALAD

Makes 4 servings — try it with grilled chicken or fish!

• 1 cup chopped seeded cucumber
• 1/2 cup chopped mango
• 1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 tbsp minced seeded jalapeño pepper
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1 tbsp fresh orange juice
• 1/2 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, stirring gently. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

I did make a couple very minor changes (not as much of the hot pepper in it, and I used dried cilantro). I plan on making this again very soon, tonight in fact.

This mission did not come with anything free, I made this for the challenge and because BzzAgent asked me to do, and I don't like to step down from a challenge ;) But I'm glad that I did, because it sure drove me to look into other similar recipes, and we are having a lot of fun adding these fruit/veggie salads to our dinner table.

'Til Next Time,

-Sue