Mango Berry Salad Recipe!

I've said it and I'll say it again- I am not a salad fan. In fact, most of the time I would use the word, "hate" to describe my relationship with them. My mom used to say, "Pretend to be a bunny and nibble on the leaf" and that helped when I was younger but I just don't find the same joy in it now for some odd reason.



 Being pregnant, I usually am good with scarfing down whatever food is in sight nowadays- but on this particular night I was feeling very apathetic towards food in general and was indecisive down to the core. Jay and I were on a double with Mandi (his sister) and her date and we all decided to meet at Zupas.  Everyone went ahead and ordered but when my turn came, I couldn't say I wanted anything. To make matters worse, there was no pressure to hurry and order because there was nobody in line behind me. So I sat and pondered, just looking at the menu glaring down at me, pushing me to make a decision. I just couldn't- I sat there and just couldn't decide what I wanted and I was getting embarrassed because the staff were all telling me to order different things. But then, Pete- one employee- finally said he would help me decide. He told me of this salad they had (SALAD?! Yuck!) that had fruit in it and that his wife loves it when she is pregnant. (Funny how that will stop me in my tracks of throwing up in my mind thinking about eating a salad-just hearing about another pregnant lady who said she liked it). So, somewhat reluctantly I agreed to try a sample of the dressing. Yum. It was surprisingly really tasty. Okay, I agreed to try an order of the salad, knowing that it could be a waste of money but then what if it was good, I dared hope.

This Zupas salad flipped my world upside down. Salad no longer=yuck.
It actually could be scrumptious. I finally made it the other day for my family and both Bethany and Ward (teens who hardly ever touch any sort of vegetable) actually tried it! They said, and I quote, "It tastes like a treat! Like candy!" So now I am convinced this is the best salad ever because you think you are eating a treat but really you are getting to eat green leafy stuff coated in heaven.

Are you convinced? Well, don't take my word for it- try it yourself.

I found a recipe online that I tweaked a bit so I'll give you my version of Zupas Mango Berry Salad:

I also made it bigger so this is a family-sized recipe:


For the Salad:
2 cups chopped fresh strawberries
1 small package fresh blueberries
1 fresh ripe mango chopped in small pieces
8-10 cups green leaves of some kind (I used a spring mix)

Dressing: (mix in blender)
1/4-1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (I used honey vanilla flavored)
2 Tablespoons Rice vinegar (the recipe called for rice wine vinegar but I couldn't find that)
*I think if I would have cut the rice vinegar down to 1 Tbsp it would have been even better or tried lemon juice instead....maybe next time that's what I'll do but it's still good with the vinegar.
1 large ripe mango, pitted and peeled.
1/2 tsp salt

Mix and if too tart add some honey!

Topping:
1/4 cup chopped almonds or walnuts caramelized in raw organic sugar and cinnamon. (The cinnamon flavor with the mango dressing is like dancing the samba in your mouth).

Mix the greenery and berries and mango with a little of the mango yogurt dressing (I actually had a little left-over dressing so just eye-ball to see how much you want/need for how much lettuce you have).

Such a perfect summer salad! We had it with fajitas and I'm sure would be good with whatever main course you choose-
or just have it for dessert!
Yum!!!