Carrot, Mango, & Raspberry Popsicles

I declare this The Summer of the Popsicle!  Okay, The Spring of the Popsicle would be fitting as well, seeing as how it is only Memorial Day weekend and I have made four different types of popsicles already this year.   The heat is on and cold popsicles in all sorts of varieties are my relief.

I'm not giving up ice cream or anything.  As a matter of fact, I have several (read double digits) ripped out and bookmarked recipes chomping at the bit.  But they are on hold for "the right moment" since it's all frozen goodies on sticks that are occupying my heart right now.

And you know, when it seems too hot out to even eat (yikes, did I just say that!?), I often turn to popsicles.  If Willy Wonka can make a chewing gum that tastes like a three-course meal, then why can't I do the same with a popsicle, pray tell.

But not today.  Although, I would consider feeding the kids these for breakfast.  Or at least myself.  I mean, I was able to work a veggie into the mix, so why not?  Since cooking carrots really brings out their sweetness, they work very well when combined with the flavors of mango and raspberry.  And no, it doesn't taste like carrot.  That sneaky carrot just sort of melds itself into the flavors surrounding it.  If you don't tell, they won't know!

Carrot, Mango, & Raspberry Popsicles

by Heather Schmitt-González

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 3 minutes

Keywords: snack dessert vegan mango berries carrots popsicles American summer

Ingredients (yield: 10 (2.5 oz.) Popsicles)

• 3 medium carrots, washed & scrubbed
• 1 mango
• 1 c. fresh raspberries (or frozen)
• ¾ c. superfine sugar
• 1 c. water

Instructions

Cut carrot into large chunks. Place in a microwave-safe bowl and add a splash of water. Cover and microwave for ~3 minutes, or until tender. Drain the water off. Let cool for 5-10 minutes.

Peel the mango and cut the flesh from the pit. Cut into large chunks. Place mango chunks in the jar of a blender along with the cooked carrots, raspberries, sugar, and water. Blend until you have a smooth puree.

Pour into popsicle molds and freeze (adding sticks at the right time for your particular molds). Freeze until solid. Enjoy!

note:

If you wish, you can push the puree through a strainer before pouring into the popsicle molds to remove the raspberry seeds and mango fibers.

Powered by Recipage

Man, it's a hot one.  Like seven inches from the midday sun.  Well, I hear you whisperin' the words that melt every one, but you stay so cool. ...Rob Thomas, Smooth

More popsicles help you stay cool this weekend:
Buttermilk 'n Fruit Popsicles
Mango & Chile Popsicles
Mexican Chocolate Ice Pops
Hibiscus Popsicles w/ Mango

I am sharing this post with:
FOTMC: Mangoes

Avocado-Mango Salad w/ Gorgonzola, Bacon, & Toasted Pepitas

A while ago, I made a pact with myself that I would start making more types of salads.  I believe it came about when I was slogging through a couple years worth of blog posts trying to make my index pages.  I realized then that I needed to expand my salad repertoire.  I think I've done a fairly good job of it since then.

Helpful hint?  Start an index page as soon as you start your blog.  It's extremely frustrating and time-consuming to wade through hundreds of posts trying to get your shit in order later.

But back to the point - salads.  They're not just for rabbits anymore.  The thing about me is, I usually find myself making meal-salads (as opposed to side-salads).  Salad as a meal is interesting, layered, complex.  Side salads are what I eat to get more roughage into my diet when it seems lacking.  And though I'm almost ashamed to admit this...almost...my favorite simple salad is just crispy Romaine with some lemon or lime juice squeezed over it.  I suppose in actuality, that's not really a salad.  Just lettuce.  So you see, commence salad repertoire expansion process?  It was definitely in order.

I definitely consider this a meal-salad.  The texture and flavor layers are insane.  Butter lettuce is crisp, yet soft and velvety.  Sweet juicy mango.  Creamy avocado.  Smoky, salty bacon.  Earthy toasted pepitas.  Pungent cheese.  All drizzled in a dressing that is all kinds of nutty, tangy, sweet, and hot all in the same mouthful.

Avocado-Mango Salad w/ Gorgonzola, Bacon, & Toasted Pepitas

by Heather Schmitt-González

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Keywords: salad avocado bacon mango lettuce Mexican summer

Ingredients (serves 4)

dressing

• 4 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled
• ½ c. pepitas, toasted
• ⅓ c. freshly squeezed lime juice
• ⅓ c. olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 small jalapeño, stemmed
• 1 Tbs. honey
• salt, to taste

salad

• 1 large head Butter lettuce, leaves separated
• ¼ of a small head of radicchio, leaves torn
• 2 large ripe California avocados
• 2 mangoes
• ~¾ c. gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

Instructions

Pour oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and jalapeño and cook, stirring regularly, until garlic is soft and lightly browned, ~5 minutes. Scrape everything into the jar of a blender. Add ⅓ of the toasted pepitas (save rest for salad), honey, and ~½ teaspoon of salt. Blend until smooth. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Arrange lettuce and radicchio among salad plates. Pit the avocados, cut into slices, and scoop from flesh. Peel the mangoes and cut the flesh from the pit. Slice into pieces about the size of the avocado. Arrange both on top of the lettuce. Drizzle some dressing over everything and then sprinkle with reserved pepitas, crumbled bacon, and gorgonzola. Enjoy!

adapted from Everyday Mexican

Powered by Recipage

I am sharing this post with:
FOTMC: Mangoes
IHCC theme: May Potluck
Join Dine & Dish and Cookin’ Canuck for the California Avocado 4th of July Blast, sponsored by theCalifornia Avocado Commission.

Mango Lassi

Sometimes it's the simple things.  You know what I'm talking about...

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens.
Brown paper packages tied up with strings.

 or perhaps...
Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels.
Door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles.
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings.

might I add...

Sun on my shoulders and wind in the willows.

The echo of laughter and sweet faces on pillows.

The sweet mellow sound when Dave Matthews sings.

or maybe...

Mangoes and yogurt puréed into lassies.

Going incognito behind my dark sunglassies.

Adding new lyrics to already popular things.

------

Mango Lassi

slightly adapted from Happy Days with the Naked Chef

serves 4 (<---- that's debatable)

1 c. plain greek yogurt

~1/2 c. milk + more as needed

7 oz. fresh mango, pitted & sliced (~1 mango)

4 tsp. sugar, to taste

Put everything into a blender and blend until smooth.  Pour into glasses and serve.  You can refrigerate this lassi for up to 24 hours.

*forgive me Rodgers and Hammerstein...and Sound of Music lovers everywhere....

Hibiscus Popsicles w/ Mango {Jamaica Paletas con Mango}

Okay, so I think it's kind of funny that I can go weeks at a time without posting any type of dessert and this is the third dessert that I've posted in a row.  Crazy.  And this isn't the end of it folks, there's another one comin' atcha tomorrow.  But that will be the end of them.  At least for a few days.  This one is a fantastic way to use some Hibiscus or Jamaica water concentrate.  While I did talk about Agua de Jamaica last summer, that was a full batch of the water.  This is a batch of concentrate and popsicles (or paletas) made from that concentrate.  You can dilute the rest of the concentrate about 50/50 concentrate to water (or to taste) and pour it over ice for a cool, refreshing beverage.  You could also heat it up at the same ratio for some hibiscus tea.  Or use the concentrate to make a fantastic marinade for some steak.  The possibilities are endless.  Just like adding chunks of mango to the mango popsicles, this adds a great sweet, smooth contrast to the tang of the hibiscus.

Hibiscus and Mango Popsicles
Jamaica Paletas con Mango
from the kitchen of girlichef
yield: lots...or a few...

concentrate (yield: ~2 qt):
2 oz. dried Hibiscus flowers (Jamaica)
8 c. water
~1 c. superfine sugar

for popsicles:
hibiscus concentrate (how much depends on size of your popsicles molds)

mango, peel & diced small (~1 mango for every 16 popsicles)

I am sharing this post with:

Stuck-Pot Rice with Yogurt and Mango

If you know me at all, you know I have those days when I am far too lazy/pre-occupied/busy/scatter-brained just like to let the food speak for itself...through photos and recipes.  This is gonna be one of those days.  We've had a run of gorgeous get-outside-kinda-weather!  Humidity has lifted, sun is shining, sky is clear, breeze is teasing...must enjoy while we can!  Here's a little something I cooked up in the midst of all the nasty heat a few days back...yes, it required the stove to be on, but the way it was cooked (w/ a towel wrapped around the lid), no steam escaped and therefore...no extra heat to add to the muggy misery.

Stuck-Pot Rice w/ Yogurt and Mango

from HTCEV by Mark Bittman

salt

1 1/2 c. white or brown basmati rice  I used white basmati

freshly ground black pepper

1/4 c. neutral oil  I used coconut oil

1/4 c. plain yogurt, preferably whole milk

1 Tbs. freshly squeezed lime juice

1 Tbs. curry powder  I used homemade

1 medium mango, peel & chop (~1 c.)

1" pc. of fresh ginger, peeled & chopped

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and salt it.  Stir in rice and return to boil, then lower heat so water bubbles along nicely.  Cook undisturbed (white rice ~5 mins, brown rice ~15 mins).  Drain & set aside.  It'll only be partially done.  Add a sprinkle more salt and grate some pepper over it.

Put 2 Tbs. of the oil in a blender jar...add the yogurt, lime juice, curry powder, mango & ginger.  Blend until smooth.  Toss rice w/ a third of the mixture and save the rest for eating with the rice.  I had a brain fart and mixed ALL of the yogurt mixture with the rice here.  I realized once I mixed it all together.  Oops...oddly enough, it didn't seem to matter!? 

Put remaining oil in large, heavy pot with tight-fitting lid over medium-high.  Add the rice mixture, pressing it down in the pan.  I found a heat "proof" spatula/spreader to work very well for this task.  Wrap a clean kitchen towel around the lid of the pot so that it completely covers the inside of the lid, with the corners gathered on top so they don't fall anywhere near the flame!  Cover the pot to seal the rim.  The mixture will sizzle immediately.  When you smell the spices in ~3-5 mins., turn the heat down very low.  Cook, completely undisturbed, for ~30 mins., or until the rice smells toasty, but not burnt.  Remove from heat and let sit another 5 minutes.

Carefully remove the lid and cloth and turn the pot upside down over a plate.  If the rice crust doesn't come out in a single piece, use a spatula to scrape the crisp pieces out of the pan and put them on top of the rice.  Serve immediately.  Mine flipped out wonderfully...and since I used the rest of my yogurt mixture right in the rice, I just mixed up a bit more yogurt w/ some lime juice and added some extra mango chunks for serving.

This was oddly addictive.  A bit of spice from the curry powder...a bit of sweet from the mango...a bit of creamy from the yogurt...and a beautiful crisp crust that I found myself wishing could have permeated the whole of the rice. Very cooling and pleasant in a weird sort of way on a hot summer day.  I thought this was a perfect dish for beating the heat...paired with some icey cold water!  What can I say...icey cold water is delicious.

I hope...that wherever you are...you're having a wonderful day!

This post is linked to :

Mango Banana Daiquiri

I meant to have these daiquiris ready to post this past Thursday...but I couldn't get a ripe mango to save my life! This weeks Barefoot Bloggers recipe was chosen by Veronica of Supermarket Serenade...and I loved it!

Although my mangoes still were not as ripe and I would have preferred, I decided I'd better get a move on and make at least one batch of these daiquiris before I was too far behind with my posting! I don't even feel like I need to say they were amazing. Banana + Mango + Rum = Tropical Delight!

I just made a couple of minor alterations, based on what I had (or didn't have) in the house. The recipe calls for dark rum and limes....I used light rum and key limes. I don't think it detracted at all.