Crab-Mango Pico de Gallo

Would you be interested in the difference in salsa and pico?

Salsa is wet. It happens to be the Spanish word for “sauce”, from what I’ve learned. I’m always wanting to be schooled.

Tell that to my mother who will remind me of my grades from high school. But hey, I made it through nursing school….15 years later, but I did it! With stellar grades, by the way. I was on the Dean’s list until those nasty nursing classes!

Anyway, Pico is a bit more dry. Well…can be dry. I like mine with a good bit of lime juice. And lots of heat.

Here’s a tidbit I found today:

Pico de Gallo [pronounced Pee’ Koh de Gah” Yoh] means “rooster’s beak”.  According to The New Food Lover’s Companionir?t=&l=as2&o=1&a=0764135775&camp=217145&creative=399349, the name may refer to eating Pico de Gallo by picking it out of the bowl with thumb and fingers.  While Pico de Gallo may be made using similar ingredients to salsa, it may also include cucumbers, tropical fruits including mango or pineapple, corn, or other ingredients not typically found in other salsas.  While it may be considered a form of salsa, Pico de Gallo may also be drier than cooked or fresh salsa.

Last Sunday was one of those days spent in the kitchen. When I say the day was spent in the kitchen….I’m not kidding. I woke up at 4 am (it’s that internal clock thing because I go to work very early during the week). So, since I was up and all obviously the first thing I did was go to the kitchen for my caffeine. Then I realized the biga for my ciabbata was ready. Yes, biga. If you don’t know what that is, then click

With the caffeine from my Coke Zero setting in, I made ciabatta. We had plans for family to come over and grill out later that day, so the bread was followed by potato salad, a marinade for grilled chicken, homemade pancakes (might be a post soon – these were fantastic), with scrambled eggs and bacon. At this point it was about 9 am – the family decided to get up and join me.

The last thing I made was this pico.

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I have to tell you; I was a bit hesitant about the crab in this but at the same time really curious about what the taste combination would be. I made a batch of pico sans crab, then threw a little in a bowl and mixed the two together.

Success. I had to high-five myself because the kids were texting/playing video games and Mark was mowing the grass.

Not sure why I was surprised; it’s always those spur of the moment recipes that are thrown together at the last minute that are the best. There have been so many times when I do that throw-together-thing and turns out sooooo good, but then I can’t remember what ingredients I used!!

Sooo…

I finally got smart.

I got a little notebook that stays in one of my island drawers that I pull out every single time I start cooking.

Wanna see??

book

Isn’t she pretty? Snagged her at Publix for $2.79.

Onto the Pico.

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Crab-Mango Pico de Gallo

Serves about 4

Crabmeat – 4 oz from a pack of 8 oz -keep in mind I used imitation, but I’m sure real crabmeat would be even better.

1 15 oz can petite diced tomatoes, drained and rinsed in a collander

1 medium sized yellow onion, diced

1 whole jalapeno pepper, washed, seeds removed and diced (use two if you want heat)

1/4 cucumber, washed and diced

1 mango, diced – for a tutorial on how to cut these click here

2 tbsp dried cilantro (I really wanted to use fresh but my Publix had none. Damnit, Cinco de Mayo)

Juice of 1 lime (use your judgement here, you may want more or less)

Salt to taste

Combine all ingredients.

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Dip with tortilla chips, pita chips…whatever you can get your hands on.

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Enjoy!

xoxo

Dixie Chik

Author

  • Shea

    Shea Goldstein is a writer and the voice behind Dixie Chik Cooks. She's also a recipe developer and brand ambassador. She has been published in several media platforms such as Redbook, Parade, Food Blogger Magazine and more. She has been developing recipes and writing since 2009. Shea is a Southern Belle Who's Thinking About What's For Dinner While Eating Lunch

This Post Has 3 Comments

  1. Trey Moran

    I make shrimp pico all the time. It’s almost like a ceviche because I dice the cooked shrimp and soak it in fresh lime juice for about an hour then toss it with the Pico.

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