Mmmmm, Mangoes!

I was hosting a dinner party last week and bought two mangoes with the idea of using them as a topping on the salad that I was serving. The salad was great – tart and sweet at the same time – but I only ended up using one mango. I thus found myself in a predicament: what to do with the other mango?

I must be honest: I am not a huge fan of eating mangoes on their own, so simply munching on my mango was out of the question. Throwing it in the compost bin was also out of the question, for those who know me know that I absolutely abhor food waste.

Alas, it seemed that my lonely mango was destined to end up in the “fruit bag” – the large bag in my freezer that receives all the peaches, pears, apples, and bananas that are on the verge of going bad. Periodically I defrost the bag, puree, and create a batch of spelt/kamut muffins sweetened only with these fruits. However, I wasn’t convinced that the intoxicating

ly sweet and exotically flavourful mango would pair well with the rest of the fruits in the “fruit bag.” Surely there must be something I could do with the mango?

The answer came to me the following evening. Roasting, sweltering, positively melting in my un-air conditioned house, I had visions of freezies, popsicles, and ice-cream dancing in my head. However, freezies and popsicles contain refined sugars and food-colouring, while ice-cream is dairy-based – all no-no’s in my household and thus all absent from my freezer.

Rather quickly, an idea began to form in my head – why can’t I make my own popsicle using my lonely mango and some other healthy ingredients? I threw open my fridge door and I assessed the ingredients available. A little of this and a little that (recipe to follow!) went into my VitaMix and I yielded a thick, creamy, and sweet concoction that settled itself quite neatly into six popsicle moulds.

As the popsicles were freezing, I began to research mangoes and was quite intrigued by what I learned. Mangoes have been used in South Asia for several thousand years, and were only later exported eastward to East Asia and westward to India, Africa, Spain, Brazil, and Mexico. Not only is their cultivation vast, but their use in cuisine is vast too!

Unripe and sour mangoes are often used in chutneys, while ripe mangoes are typically eaten fresh. Ripe mangoes have additional uses in many cuisines such as South Asian “mango lassi” (ripe mangoes mixed with yogurt and sugar) and curries. Mangoes are also a popular additional to ice creams, sorbets, gelatos, and many other non-frozen desserts. Mangoes also mix well with tomatoes, onions, mint, chilli peppers and a bit of olive oil to create a sweet and spicy salsa.

Something that tastes so good must be unhealthy, right? Wrong! Mangoes are rich in a variety of phytochemicals and nutrients. The fruit is rich in pre-biotic fiber, vitamins A, B6, C, E, & K, polyphenols, carotenoids, quercetin, potassium, copper, pro-vitamin A and several amino acids. These are just to name a few!

While mangoes are a power-house of nutrients, those who are on a restricted-sugar diet should enjoy mangoes in moderation. Despite the immensity of nutrients, the sugar content of mangoes is quite high. Like all fruits, the sugar content in mangoes is fructose, which is far better that refined sucrose. Yet fructose, like all sugars, should be consumed in moderation. Eating mangoes with a bit of low-fat plain yogurt will give the flavourful taste of mangoes, while balancing the sugar with a bit of carbohydrate and fat. By doing so, we won’t cause such a huge spike to our blood sugar levels.

Prior to this little experiment of mine, mangoes were never on my priority list at the grocery store. However, the more research I did, the more I came to realize not only the nutrient value but also the diverse uses of this fantastic fruit. My family will certainly be enjoying m

uch more mangoes in the future!

Creamy Mango Popsicles

Ingredients:

1 ripe mango, peeled & diced

2 cups coconut milk (I use So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk, not the kind from the can; if you are using canned coconut milk, use 1 cup coconut milk & 1 cup water)

2 tbsp. raw agave nectar

2 tbsp. chia seeds

Add all ingredients to a high-powered blender. Puree. Taste, and add additional agave or coconut milk to taste. Pour into popsicle moulds. Freeze, and enjoy! (Note: If there is any left over after all moulds have been filled, throw a few ice cubes into the blender and enjoy as a smoothie).

Namaste!

Beet & Flax Crackers

I recently purchased some Garden Vegetable raw crackers from our local healthy foods store, Organic Garage. My first thought: these are delicious! My second thought: I can totally make these myself! And so began my quest.

I scrutinized the label and saw that these crackers contained various ingredients including sunflower seeds, flaxseed powder, beets, kale, celery, carrot, and garlic. Simple enough, n'est-ce pas? The trick would be in getting just the right ratio of ingredients to ensure optimal deliciousness.

In checking my fridge, I found - to my delight - that I had everything I needed except for the kale. No matter - this was to be, after all, an experiment in ingredients. As I started to chop, spiralize, process, and blend all of the ingredients, my crackers grew from a simple combination of foods into conglomerate! The end result, however, was delicious!

Don't be put off from trying this when I say that it's a conglomerate of ingredients - the making of the recipe is still quite simple, it just calls for a few more ingredients than anticipated.

Please enjoy!

Namaste :)

RAW Beet & Flax Crackers

1 cup sunflower seeds (soak for 6-8 hours in 1 1/2 cups of water)

1 large red beet, finely chopped (I leave the skin on but chop off the ends)

2 large carrots, finely chopped (I use the deep purple & yellow heritage varieties)

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

1/2 - 1 cup cashew butter (add 1/2 cup to begin, & add more for flavour if needed)

1/2 cup flax oil

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp mustard seed powder

2 tbsp parsley, dried

1 tsp sea salt

2 cups golden flax seeds

In a food processor or high-powered blender (I use the VitaMix 5200), add the sunflower seeds along with the soak water. Add all of the rest of the ingredients, except for the flax seeds, bit by bit. Play around with the blending speeds - you may need to speed it up, then slow it down, then speed it up (you get the picture!). Depending on the consistency, add more water or flax oil. You want it to be thick but still runny; you should be able to pour it out of the blender without any trouble.

Pour mixture into a large bowl. Add flax seeds. Stir, and let stand for 5-10 minutes to thicken up.

Spread mixture onto paraflexx sheets. Make sure you spread it into a nicely shaped square and that you spread the mixture in an even layer. Score it gently with a butter knife to achieve the desired size of crackers. Dehydrate at 100 - 105 degrees for 12 hours. Then remove the crackers from the paraflexx sheets and flip them over, dehydrating for another 8 hours directly on the dehydrator tray.

I've Returned Bearing the BEST Ranch Dressing Recipe

'Tis true. It has been awhile since I've last posted. Okay. It's been more than awhile; it's been the greater part of a year. I could blame it on several "things" - and valid ones, at that - which have seemed to consume my life, body and spirit, over the past long while. A part of me wishes I could displace this blame so easily. Another part realizes that every action we make in our life is the result of a choice. The fact that I have not written for so long is a result of the fact that I have chosen not to do so. Granted, a number of variables have contributed to this choice that I have made, but nonetheless, 'tis no one's fault but my own.

Having said all this, I have not wasted this past year in vain. I have been un-cooking, meditating, practicing yoga, teaching French, and engaging in a wide variety of other endeavours. One of my most enjoyable forays has been experimenting with raw-foods, or "un-cooking" as I am prone to calling it.

One of my greatest challenges has been to come up with enticing and delicious dressings and dips. I was a great lover of ranch. An admirer of caesar. A fan of creamy poppyseed, thousand island, and greek feta. Le sigh. It pains me to admit that I couldn't seem to get enough of the commercially made "creamy" dressings. Oil and vinegar? I'd rather just use plain old freshly squeezed lemon juice - which I have, in fact, been using since I became informed of the toxic ingredients in conventional salad dressings and dips. However, I still craved that "creamy" texture found in many of my forbidden dressings and dips.

Oh sure, hummus is fabulous. Substituting vegan-mayo (not raw, but better than Hellmann's!) can be fantastic. Still, my tastbuds were wanting. Then, I started to experiment with the creamy texture of cashew butter. Wow! The results were AMAZING! This is one of the best recipes for a dressing/dip that I have ever tasted! Lest I sound conceited or full of myself, might I add that I chalk this discovery up to the random combination of ingredients of my own personal discovery - perhaps you have already tried these ingredients together.

But on the chance that you haven't, let me share with you a FANTASTIC recipe for a raw Ranch dressing:

1 cup raw cashew butter

1/2 cup water (N.B. - this makes a very thick dip-like concoction; increase water if you'd like a thinner dressing-like concoction)

4 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup fresh dill, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 stalk celery, finely chopped

Add all ingredients in the food processor or high-powered blender (I like the VitaMix) and process until smooth. For a thinner texture, add additional water. For a thinner yet creamy texture, add olive or flax oil to taste.

Enjoy and namaste!