Mango Salsa Recipes for Picky Eaters (52 New Foods, Around the World Week 13) April 10 2013, 6 Comments

These simple mango salsa recipes make it easy and fun for picky eaters to try a new food (or two) lots of different ways – the key to getting past peas and pasta!

Fresh, organic mangoes gave the market a bright splash of color. Impossible to resist, we decided to make them our new food of the week. A fun way to start our Whole Foods Challenge!

As part of our 52 New Foods adventure, we’re heading to Whole Foods to scout out our new food each week this month. It’s how my kids plan to celebrate the launch of Crunch a Color at Whole Foods markets! We hope you’ll join us. Be sure to snap pictures of the new foods you are trying and share them with us on Facebook and Twitter. Bonus points if you spot Crunch a Color in store!

Now back to those mangoes. You may be thinking, “It’s not hard to get kids to try mango!” This is true, but there’s a secret. Familiar foods like mango are your ticket to more challenging foods like onion and pepper. Here’s how:

Set the ingredients up assembly line style, and let your kids create a mango salsa tasting bar. Encourage them to build their own recipes, moving from just one or two ingredients (mango and lemon) to a full on salsa with all of the fixings including those tough to try foods like red onion, cilantro and pepper. Let them taste a bit of each version and figure out the right mix for them! They may decide that they don’t like the recipe with red onion, but it’ll get your kids having fun tasting a new food a few different ways, which is your goal! It’s one of the keys to getting past peas and pasta.

What we Liked: This little game worked wonders with my picky eaters! First, it got my daughter Catherine to finally try (and like!) cilantro. Surprise! The mango salsa recipe with onion and pepper was a little too strong for her palette, but I celebrated that she gave it a try (and we agreed to do it again). As for my son James, his reaction to the full on version of our mango salsa – mango, lemon, lime, strawberry, cilantro, red onion and pepper – can only be summarized one way. A picture is worth a thousand words!

Mango Salsa Recipes for Picky Eaters

FOR A PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE CLICK HERE.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 0 minutes
Yield: Makes 4 servings
Crunch a Color points: 5 Yellow / Orange, plus additional points for the other colors that you add.

Ingredients:

2 mangoes
2 medium strawberries
2 slices of red pepper
2 slices, Meyer lemon
2 slices, lime
1 Tbsp red onion, chopped fine
1 handful, cilantro

Directions:

1. Prepare your ingredients. Mangoes and strawberries should be cut into ¼” cubes. Lemons and limes sliced into wedges. Peppers and onions chopped fine! Cilantro can be left as is.

2. Setup your ingredients assembly line style, starting with the simplest recipe on the left (mango, lemon, lime) and moving to the most challenging recipe on the right (red onion and pepper).

3. Prepare your mango salsa recipes, moving from left to right. The recipes build on each other. For example, the last recipe includes red onion and pepper, along with all of the ingredients that came in the earlier versions (lemon, lime, strawberry, cilantro).

4. Give ‘em a taste! We tried our mango salsa recipes with a slice of whole wheat tortilla.

5. Vote for your favorite!

* How do you like to enjoy mango? Do you have a favorite mango salsa recipe? Share your ideas!  

Craving more easy recipes to try? Catch up on last week’s new food: Eggplant Parmigana.

About the author: Jennifer Tyler Lee is a mom of two children and the creator of Crunch a Color® -- award-winning nutrition games that make healthy eating fun. Like most parents, she struggled to get her kids to eat healthy, balanced meals, so she decided to make it into a healthy eating game and she’s giving back to support non-profit kids’ nutrition programs. Winner of the Dr. Toy and Parent Tested, Parent Approved awards, Crunch a Color® has been featured by Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, Rachael Ray's Yum-O!, Laurie David’s Family Dinner, Kiwi Magazine, Dr. Greene, and Yum Food & Fun For Kids, among many others, as a simple, fun and playful way to get kids to eat healthy and try new foods. Jennifer’s passion is making mealtime fun and healthy for busy families. Her easy recipes, quick tips, and new food adventures are regularly featured at Pottery Barn Kids, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, The Huffington Post, and on her weekly recipe blog at crunchacolor.com.