Mango at Home

Three New Ways to Use Mango at Home

• Peel & slice unripe mango and add it to your lunchbox (or get conversation started by adding it to your next veggie tray!). Try dipping it – chili powder, lime juice & salt; honey, hot sauce & toasted hemp seeds; soy sauce, lime juice & toasted sesame seeds…
• Hedgehog cut a firm-ripe mango (Hedgehog cut – slice both lobes off the mango. With a sharp, short knife, lay mango on a cutting board flesh side up. Cut flesh just down to skin into squares. Do not cut through skin. At this point, to eat fresh, push the skin as if turning the fruit inside out, so the squares pop up from the skin.). Season as you like – chili powder, lime juice & salt OR sugar, or simple salt & black pepper –  lightly oil and grill (a cast iron skillet works, too) flesh side down, over medium-high heat. Cook undisturbed until slightly charred. Use a thin metal spatula to lift mango off the grill and lay flesh side up on a platter. When cool enough to handle, slide flesh off skins with the back of a knife or metal spoon. Eat with anything roasted or grilled (unbelievable with roasted chicken).
• Peel an almost overripe (very soft) mango and squeeze flesh off of the pit with your hands into a small non-reactive saucepan (glass, enamelware, stainless steel – do not use aluminum or cast iron!). Add a pinch of cane sugar or a squirt of honey and cook over low heat until thick and jam-like. Spoon over glutinous brown or purple rice, ice cream or steel-cut oatmeal…Spread on toasted whole-grain bread…Cool & freeze in 1/2 cup portions for your morning smoothie. Also a healthy and delicious snack when you’re stuck in bed with that nasty flu!

 

The paisley shape we are so familiar with comes from the representation of mango leaves in ancient Persian art.

India grows the most mangoes of any country in the world, but consumes a whopping 99% of their own product – a testament to the variety of uses as food products, as well as using the leaves for decoration, and the leaves and skins in Ayurvedic medicine.

The sunny color, unique flavor and tropical fragrance of this fruit can brighten anyone’s day! And it’s got a whopping 50% of your daily vitamin C in 4 oz of fresh fruit!