Mango Macadamia Nut Salad

This is the salad I made with the chicken marsala last week.  My aunt Michelle introduced me to it and it was so good I thought I would make a homemade dressing for it.  The sweetness of the mangos with fresh romaine, crunchy macadamia nuts, and a fresh dressing is perfect.
Somethings to be aware of are how to pick out a ripe mango which can be tricky.  You want it soft and somewhat yellow (it is perfect if the juice is starting to leak from the mango).  Also you want fresh ingredients for the dressing (believe me this can make or break the salad.


Recipe: (Serves 4)

5 oz of romaine salad mix
1 ripe mango
1/3 cup macadamia nuts
handful bread crumbs (french bread toasted and cut into pieces works)

Dressing: (Need a food processor)
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tsp good mustard (not the stuff you put on a hotdog)
pinch salt and pepper
tsp basil


Directions:

For the salad, rinse the lettuce and place in a large bowl, gently rip the leaves into bite size pieces (the one thing I dislike about eating salad is trying to eat huge leaves).

Peel the mango skin and cut into 1/4 inch size pieces (mangos have big pits but try and get as much of the fruit as you can).  Toss in the salad along with the macadamia nuts (if you want you can chop these so they are easier to eat but I leave them as they are).
Cut the toasted bread into small pieces and toss in as well.  Mix everything together well before adding the dressing.

For the dressing get access to a food processor (otherwise you can just use a basic balsamic dressing, or mix balsamic vinegar and olive oil together with mustard).
First, process the garlic clove into tiny tiny pieces, then add all the other ingredients until everything is very well mixed (about 45 seconds).


Add the dressing (will only need about half of what you made, but it's nice to make a lot to save for salads the next couple of days).  Mix in the dressing and serve JUST GOOD FOOD!