One of my Favorites

One of my favorite tropical fruits is mango and I've discovered that, possibly because of the large East Asian population here, we have plenty of imported mango at our local fruit markets. It can be a little awkward to prepare if you don't have a system, but it can be very easy if you do.

Mangoes range in color from green to red and yellow. They can be a combination of any or just plain, one color. The color doesn't always show how ripe it is, unless it is still a very obvious green color. When a mango is ripe, you should be able to indent it slightly by pressing on it. You should check for bruising and also make sure its not too soft, or you'll have a mushy mess to deal with.

For this photo shoot I happened to have a nice yellow mango. It's a bit smaller than the green variety, but is almost sure to be good!

To begin with, what you have to remember is that the mango has a large, kind of flat pit in the center. You will notice that in the same way the mango has opposing flatter sides. So here are the step by step directions on how to cut it, following the pictures.

1. Stand the mango on its end and check out the shape to determine which way the pit is situated.
2. Using a sharp knife, place it right beside the stem part, almost like you're going to cut it in half but, imagining the alignment of the flat side of the pit, you want to slice right beside it. Repeat on opposite side.
3. Slice off the two narrow remaining sides
4. Cut into wedges.
5. Thinly peel each slice
6. It's ready to put on a fruit platter or into a salad.

My favorite quick salad lately has been made from pre-washed and bagged spinach. If its in the fridge and ready to go, I'm more likely to eat it. I simply take out a few handfuls, put them on a large dinner plate and throw on some strawberries or mango slices. A handful of trail mix thrown on top is good too.

My favorite dressing lately has been a poppyseed & caramelized onion dressing.

All in all, it's a very good lunch and so easy!