3 cups butter lettuce, chopped
2 medium nectarines, pitted and sliced
1/4 cup almonds, slivered or shaved
1/2 cup strawberries
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
salt and pepper

1. Combine strawberries, vinegar, oil and sugar in a bowl. Gently mash the strawberries with a fork and season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Combine lettuce and nectarines on a plate and pour dressing overtop. Garnish with almonds and serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 medium mangoes, peeled and chopped
1 Scotch bonnet pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon rum
1 teaspoon hot sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, grated
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup lime juice
salt and pepper

1. Puree the mango, pepper, rum and hot sauce in a blender or food processor to form a smooth paste.
2. In a small sauce pan over medium heat, add the pureed mango mixture and combine with the garlic, ginger, coconut, coriander seed and cumin.
3. Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the coconut has softened, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool completely.
4. Stir the coconut milk and lime juice into the sauce.
5. Preheat grill.
6. Season chicken with salt and pepper and place on the grill.
7. Turn chicken once grill marks form and flesh is no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
8. Lower heat and continue cooking until chicken is no longer pink in center and juices run clear, about 15 minutes.
9. Baste occasionally with prepared sauce and spoon remaining sauce over chicken to serve. Garnish with cilantro if desired.

Makes 4 servings

I momentarily decided that I don't eat enough salad, so I picked up a head of butter lettuce. I'm not particularly sure of the benefits of eating living lettuce, but that's what I accidentally picked up without even realizing I was supposed to "plant" it in a glass of water when I got home. It wilted a bit after a day in the fridge before I plunked it in a glass of water, but it still tasted lettucy and I assume I still benefited from it somehow other than having a really odd paper weight in my kitchen. I'd never had butter lettuce before, so perhaps the living lettuce thing is a special ability of it. To me it tastes no different than any other lettuce, though it does look a little prettier and feel a little softer.

I made the butter lettuce into a Butter Lettuce and Nectarine Salad, which was little more than those 2 ingredients and a vinaigrette which tastes like virgin strawberry margaritas, which isn't a bad thing. I quickly remembered that I don't like salads because there is so much washing involved, lettuces take up so much room in the fridge and they make impossible leftovers. My monthly salad quota is fulfilled and I can go on about my life now.

I bought a bunch of chicken breasts and tried to figure out new, interesting and hopefully tasty recipes to try. Despite my dislike of mangoes, I settled on Jamaican Mango Chicken, hoping that the taste of mango somehow faded out of the limelight. While this was partially true since my taste buds were singed by the Scotch bonnet pepper, I still did not like this very much at all. I figured it was something Shannon might like, but she only said it was "not bad", so I guess it's a failed recipe. Despite that the coconut in it made the sauce sort of resemble maggots in mucous, it could be dressed up to be sort of pretty if you cared to. I didn't bother because I just expected it to taste like tropical hairspray and didn't want to waste valuable garnishes.