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!