plantains

Chicken Mango Salad

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Test Kitchen Favorites: Chicken Mango Salad! If you’ve ever been to a botanical garden, pay close attention to their delightful café tucked among the vibrant plants. Once you finish exploring the grounds, reward yourself with some of their signature dishes and special offerings. Among them, you may discover a garden staple that wins customers year after year. This mango chicken salad has been so popular, the recipe was posted in their quarterly magazine. Guess who decided it was time to make it at home?! Yours truly. 

CHICKEN MANGO SALAD

Ingredients: 

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, grilled, and cut into cubes 

1 English cucumber, seeds removed and cut into cubes

1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 bunch green onions, chopped

2 sprigs fresh mint, cut into strips

2 sprigs fresh basil, thinly sliced

2 mangoes, peeled; seeds discarded 

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

1/3 cup mayonnaise 

Plantain Chips, for serving

Instructions: 

Assemble ingredients. Cut one mango into cubes. Place the second mango into a blender and purée. Add a splash of water, if needed to make it smooth. In one bowl, gently toss the chicken cubes, cucumber cubes, halved tomatoes, chopped green onions, strips of mint, thinly sliced basil, and cubed mangoes. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk together the mango purée, orange juice, and mayonnaise. Mix well. Slowly add the dressing to the chicken salad. Toss and coat. Scoop the mango chicken salad onto a bed of bib lettuce leaves. Serve with plantain chips. 

La Sorpresa Latina Cuban Café in Naples, Florida

Dining Outside the Home: La Sorpresa Latina Cuban Cafe in Naples, Florida! For the real taste of Cuba, you go to the source. But if a journey 90 miles from the southernmost point of Florida is not in the near future, no worries. Thanks to La Sorpresa, a family-owned place for a quick bite and a signature coffee, you can get a killer Cuban Sandwich stateside. This popular sammie is stuffed with shredded pork, sliced ham, Swiss cheese, dill pickles, and yellow mustard. Go ahead and add some hot sauce for extra kick. Everything is pressed together like a panini, making it the perfect handheld option. Because the crusty bread is bakery-made, you might think about sharing. Cuban bread is formed in the shape of a baguette, only with plenty of air pockets, so it could be over twelve inches long. It has a touch of sweetness that makes you crave another bite. We ordered two Cuban Sandwiches the first time and ended up cutting one in half for lunch. ‘Course that meant we got to eat the same thing the next day. By the time we left the café, we had an order of plantains and an extra loaf of Cuban bread. After all, dreams do come true. You just have to believe it.

Paradise Restaurant in Key West, Florida

Dining Outside the Home: Paradise Restaurant in Key West, Florida! “Behind every storm, there is a paradise waiting for you,” say owners Christian and Julian Velez. Together they created Paradise Restaurant, specializing in tasty Latin American food. Their hospitality alone embraces everyone who comes to dine here. Sure, the iguanas may come into view over your shoulder, but that only adds to the ambiance of outdoor seating. Sit back, sip on a salty-sugar rimmed margarita for good measure while deciding what to order. Ever tried sweet and succulent fried plantains? You must. They are simply delish caramelized niblets of green bananas. Pair them with pork carnitas and Cuban black beans. Talk about Paradise.

Dining Outside the Home: Copacabana Cuban Café in Mt. Dora, Florida 

Down a cobblestone alley, among palm treed archways and iron grillwork, you can hear the passionate Cuban rhythms playing overhead. The aromas of sweet plantains and garlic butter mojo sauce waft over tropical breezes. A dark-haired beauty, Gaby, served up fresh mint and iced lime juice concoctions for sipping in leisure as we wiled away the afternoon. At the copa…Copacabana, the hottest spot north of Havana!