Tropical Chicken Sausage Salad

As the heat is escalating and wearing my family down, I am thankful it doesn't last for forever. The 102-118 temperatures will end in a month or two,  its only mid-July. Need to start getting creative with indoor activites. But of course the things that keep coming to mind are: snow, fall, football, winter coats, pumpkins, anything pumpkin, thick spicy chili, and one last thing. If I am going to be this hot I might as well be someplace tropical with an super cold, iced beverage in my hand swinging in a hammock with lots of sunblock on, a book or just lazily staring off into a deep blue water. Sounds so picturesque... hammock, sand, sun, drink with an umbrella. This salad is an ode to that official day dream of being someplace wonderful and tropical. Let the flavors of mango and pineapple take you away..... 

Makes 1 adult portion lunch sized salad

Done in less than 15 minutes - Yup. Perfect for easy lunch or dinner. 

Ingredients

• 2 cups of fresh crisp romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1 oz  (3 or 4 pieces) of dried mango chopped 
• 1/2 of a fresh mango chopped ( I shared the other half with my kiddo - he loves mango!)
• 1/2 cup of fresh pineapple, chopped (from a can)
• 1 pineapple bacon flavor chicken sausage cooked in water on the stove - approx 8 minutes then remove water and let it crisp up for 2-3 minutes over medium heat
• 1/4 cup of your favorite kind of nuts ( I used cashews)
• 1/4 of a golden delicious apple (something i also shared) sliced super thin in long strips. 

This fresh crunchy wonderful salad doesn't even need any dressing with the fruit in there. The crunch of the lettuce and sweet juicy bites of fruit pair perfectly with the sweet flavored sausage. The only thing that would've made it better would've been some candied bacon in the salad too. Yes I know. Bacon makes everything better. 

Have a wonderful summer sun filled day. 

Enjoy some fruit and daydream about a tropical place. 

From my nontropical kitchen to yours.