Mango salsa

Greetings, members of the Temporarily Spouseless Club, and friends!

Today, we will put our idle hours -- not to mention our delicious payload of Cebu mangoes -- to good use by making mango salsa!

The scent of mangoes and cilantro will surely brighten up your mood and make you forget that it will be two more long and dull nights until your Traveling Spouse returns! It's like sunshine in your kitchen... and in your miserable lonely heart!

There are a number of useful mango salsa recipes on the web. If you find yourself staring at an inordinate amount of unused produce in your refrigerator (a clear sign that it's been a Temporarily Spouseless week!), you may want to just use these helpful suggestions as a base and throw in a few other odds and ends!

For my own version of mango salsa, I used the following:

• 2 ripe mangoes, flesh chopped
• 3 quarters of a large onion, diced
• Small handful of fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
• Fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
• One medium red chili, de-seeded and chopped (I left in some of the seeds because I know my Traveling Spouse likes a little bit of warmth!)
• Juice and grated zest of two medium limes 
• A dash of sea salt
• A dash of pepper

Just chop everything and chuck it into a jar! Jamie Oliver likes to drizzle a little olive oil into mixtures like this to "loosen up" the flavors, but I think it's okay to skip this step.

Then, mix all the ingredients with a spoon and taste! Mmm... tangy!

Cover the jar tightly to ensure that the salsa will still be lovely and ready to enjoy when your Traveling Spouse returns! This will be great with pan-fried salmon or even some grilled chicken. Perfect for a welcome home dinner as he presents you with a plethora of gifts from his latest trip!

Till the next meeting of the Temporarily Spouseless Club... keep busy!