“Remoted” – Workday 41/Day 52 (Thursday)

There’s that old saying “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Today we learn about, “when the produce box arrives with two of the ripest-probably-overripe-why-are-my-fingers-leaving-impressions-in-them mangoes,” you might need to make mango something.

It’s interesting (fascinating!) how many results pop up in a search for “overripe mango recipes.” There are sorbets, granitas, ice cream, breads, curry, basically an entire world of recipes, most requiring things that have never existed in my pantry (like Almond Milk). One recipe needed ghee, which I haven’t dealt with since, quite literally, the last century when a health practitioner suggested I make it. And after making it, I had no idea what I was supposed to do with it, so the whole thing ended up being a strange and wasted kitchen exercise.

The winning recipe for this round of internet recipe roulette was “Roasted Mango with Brown Sugar and Walnuts” which has practically the entire ingredients list in the title. For some reason, cinnamon was kept out of the title, but maybe by then it had just become too clunky. The reason for its victory in the recipe war was that everything needed was in the pantry (but after this recipe I’m now officially out of walnuts). It's quick to prepare and only needs 12 minutes in the oven.

There were lessons learned from this effort, one before the stuff was even mixed in the bowl. It’s possible I’ve been eating my mangoes too soon. There was some concern about what weirdness might be found inside when cutting them, but these soft mangoes looked normal inside and were easier to get off the pit. I didn’t even try peeling them, I just cut them and scraped the flesh off the skin and the pit. It tasted great, but there was no way I could eat both of them just as plain fruit even without having had supper, so the recipe moved forward.

You can walk away, but
it might not be easy.

Unlike a lot of recipes, this one didn’t specify a size for the baking dish, so I’m not sure if the best one was used, but the stuff tasted amazing. After waiting the recommended five minutes before serving, I learned that, yes, I probably could eat two mangoes in one sitting when roasted like this, even right after having chicken broccoli Alfredo for supper. But I made myself walk away, learning in the process that yes, it's possible to step away from deliciousness. For a while anyway. 

Oh, the things we learn.

In case you are interested (and because it’s short and exists in a form I can copy/paste) here is the recipe:

Roasted Mango with Brown Sugar and Walnuts

Author: Katerina | Diethood.com

Ingredients

2 ripe mangoes

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425.

Cut the mangoes and scoop out the flesh into a medium-sized bowl.

In the same bowl combine the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Let stand for 15 minutes.

Pour the mixture into a baking dish and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until browned on top.

Remove from oven, let stand 5 minutes, and serve.