THE DISH
Three salsas, one each inspired by Madonna, M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj

THE INSPIRATION
So, last night Madonna performed the Super Bowl halftime show, with help from M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj on her new song “Give Me All Your Luvin’.” I’m not crazy about the song (the chorus sorta makes me want to rip my hair out, to be honest, although I would appreciate it at least a little bit otherwise), but it was awesome to see these three super-powerful ladies sharing the stage for something this huge. And, of course, it was even more awesome to see M.I.A. flip off national television.

Anyway, my friend Eleanor encouraged themed dishes for her lovely Super Bowl party, which I obviously took as an assignment. So, I made three salsas (an easy choice for the Super Bowl), one each inspired by Madonna, M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj. They’re all are quite different but have the same premise: all three of these women have a nice side, but they’re also extremely bold and have a lot of attitude. So, each salsa has a sweet component and a bit of a kick, and they’re all colorful for the women’s colorful wardrobes and uh, colorful language. M.I.A. is mango and pickles for her song “Mango Pickle Down River” (along with shredded coconut, cumin and curry which are used in Sri Lankan cooking, served with plantain chips because of her “Banana” skit at the beginning of Arular). Nicki Minaj has a base of strawberries for her Pink Friday album (with serrano peppers for the kick). Madonna’s is mostly corn and cherries for her Midwest (Michigan!) roots, which she mentioned at least a couple times in a press conference this weekend.

THE RECIPES

Mango, pickle and tomatillo salsa (M.I.A.)
Makes about 3 cups.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup cilantro, loosely packed
1/4 of a red onion
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup sour pickles (I used some kind of sour Gherkins)
1 jalapeno, seeded
2 small cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
Juice from one lime
1 mango, peeled and chopped
2 tomatillos, chopped

Directions:

Combine chopped mango and tomatillos in a bowl. Pulse everything else in a food processor until finely chopped. Mix everything together.

Strawberry-cucumber salsa (Nicki Minaj)
Makes about 3 cups.

Ingredients:

2 cups chopped strawberries
1 cup chopped cucumber (about one Kirby cucumber)
1/2 of a small red onion
1/3 cup parsley, loosely packed
2 serrano peppers, seeded
Juice from one lemon

Directions:

Combine strawberries and cucumbers in a bowl. Pulse everything else in food processor until finely chopped. Mix everything together.

Cherry-corn salsa (Madonna)
Makes about 2 cups.

Ingredients:

1 cup corn (I used frozen)
1 cup pitted and chopped cherries
1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro
1/4 of a red onion
1 jalapeno, seeded
Juice from 1 lime

Directions:

Combine corn and cherries in a bowl. Pulse everything else in food processor until finely chopped. Mix everything together.