June 15, 2015

IT’S MANGO SEASON!!!

Can you sense my enthusiasm through my subtle use of caps, excessive exclamation marks, and Jim Carrey’s dance skills?

As my boyfriend says about a few of my favorite things (tacos, Godiva chocolate, cheesecake, etc.), I have a love affair with mangoes. These juicy, hairy-pitted ovals of goodness are my remedy for coping with the summertime. (Yes, “coping.” I prefer the winter.) Mangoes make the heat more bearable and the hurricanes less troubling. I may be exaggerating a bit, but you get the point. Perhaps this undeniable love is a result of my Haitian heritage. (I’m not complaining.)

Mangoes are categorized as “drupes.” These plant fruits are encased within a thin outer skin, a seed nestled in at the core. Other fruits that fall under this category include peaches, plums, olives, and cherries. There are a number of health benefits associated with eating mangoes, and according to Medical News Daily, they are a source of “over 20 vitamins and minerals.”

If I’m not slicing and dicing my mango before forking the pieces into my mouth, then I’m usually peeling off the reddish-green skin and devouring the insides with no sense of etiquette whatsoever. But this summer break, I wanted to get a bit more creative with these golden-fleshed beauties.

Project Número Uno: The Smoothie.

I was never a huge fan of smoothies, finding them either too sweet or too fruity. I finally came to my senses two summers ago, and I hadn’t had one since around that time. Just the other day I was craving a smoothie, so I figured why not make my own?

We had a few of these treasures lying around just waiting, begging almost, to be eaten. I cut this baby up and threw it in the blender. I tossed in a little plain Greek yogurt, cinnamon, and vanilla.

To give the drink a “cooler vibe,” I added a few ice cubes.

A few minutes in the blender and voila! I had myself the perfect mango smoothie: thirst-quenching, healthy, and tasty, to say the least. I will definitely be making these bad boys more often. And who knows what my next mango project will be? I’m thinking maybe something a bit less…conventional.

© Scappiamo, 2015