Meat!

This is a more-or-less original recipe, though heavily inspired by this avocado/mango/papaya salad they have at Bodeguita Del Medio on California Ave. in Palo Alto. They have excellent mussels there, by the way.

So, the avocado and mango stay the same. I love that combination. Since I couldn't find any compelling papaya I got some kiwis instead, which lend a certain amount of tartness. I also thought about using cucumbers for something less sweet and more texture-varied.

For the dressing, I basically made the dressing I'd use for a Thai cucumber salad. I warmed up some rice vinegar and water (maybe half and half... just so long as the vinegar is not too overpowering) on low heat on the stove and added a few spoonfuls of palm sugar. I don't know the exact measurements and really it's just the kind of thing that should be done to taste. If you don't have palm sugar, light brown sugar is a fine substitute.

Let it cool to warm but not hot, and gently toss the fruit with it. Now cut up some chili peppers. I have a bag of Thai chilis in my freezer, affectionately called "mouse shit peppers" in Thai (prick khee noo) but serranos would also be fine. Mash them up really good with some lime juice, in a mortar and pestle if you've got it, to the point where you think the lime juice is spice-infused enough to probably dissolve plastic (you *are* using ceramic bowls, right?). Toss that in with the fruit as well. Now let it all marinate for at least 30 minutes. The lime juice should keep the avocado from turning brown.

I had this with some vaguely caribbean tilapia (recipe taken from the Moosewood Restaurant cookbook), mashed sweet potatoes, and plantains'n'black beans'n'sour cream.