Thirsty Thursday: A Spring Sunrise

One of my coworkers recently returned from Tanzania, bringing me back some hibiscus tea. Now Hibiscus encompasses hundreds of species of flowers found in rainy temperate, subtropical, and tropical regions of the world. Across South America, Asia, Africa, the hibiscus flower is traditionally consumed in drink form, often cold and sweetened.

High in vitamin C, hibiscus has been used for its medicinal benefits. It has been linked to lowered blood pressure and fevers, and helps to relieve coughs, manage respiratory ailments, and also act as a natural sunblock! Besides its natural healing properties, hibiscus carries with it a tart fruity flavor and, for the red variety, a vibrant hue. 

So when I was telling a friend yesterday that despite an absence of grains and their derivatives, my diet does not change drastically during Passover, it dawned on me that drinking smoothies rather than eating breakfast cereal or oatmeal plays a particularly important role in that respect. Melding my newly acquired tea, with additionally not-so-local fruits, I crafted this tangy treat to sip as the sun comes up. While it is now officially spring, it still stays dark enough in the morning to enjoy the purples and reds as the sun peaks its head over the horizon.

 

Orange Hibiscus Sunrise

(acceptable for Passover, safe for the vegan or gluten-free soul in your life)

1 orange

1/2 beet, chopped

1/2 frozen strawberries

1/4 mango, chopped (or 1/3 cup frozen)

4-6 oz hibiscus tea, chilled

3-5 drops liquid stevia

handful spinach (optional)

1. Puree in blender or with hand blender. Enjoy!

For more visit Wellness Weekends and Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

Fifty Second Friday: Sunrise Sipper

It may be cold in Washington, DC (global warming, what?), but that doesn't mean we can't celebrate a little on Friday. Generally I'm opposed to relying heavily on tropical fruits, subsisting off of apples and oranges (which are seasonal and just south in Florida...) during the winter months. However, I happen to be a tad bit obsessed with frozen mango. And though it may seem a bit counter-intuitive during this time of year, my day just doesn't seem right without a morning smoothie.

Feeling inspired by Indian cuisine after a delightful meal at Rasika, the logical direction for the morning beverage was a mango lassi. Lassi dates back to ancient times, in theory aids digestion, and was used in Hindu rituals. While the traditional Punjabi 'lassi' is actually a savory beverage of yogurt, water, salt, and spices, the sweet almost milkshake-like drinks have become popular and proliferated. Enter the mango lassi. I veered away from the basic recipe (and veganized it) by adding in some greens and frozen fresh ginger (and some raw vegan protein powder...). Completely optional, but thoroughly enjoyable.

Mango Lassi

1/2 banana

1/2 cup frozen mango chunks

1/4 cup almond milk

1/4 cup coconut milk (or sub almond milk)

1 tsp agave

Handful baby kale (optional)

1 tsp grated fresh ginger (optional)

Pretty self-explanatory: dump everything in a blender (or go the immersion blender route) and mix until creamy smooth.

This recipe joins other tasty delights on Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays and Wellness Weekends. TGIF and happy weekend!

Mango May-Day

Welcome to the month of May. While spring is well on its way and greens are abounding, I'm finding myself facing a new dilemma. All of you are probably well aware that I have an unhealthy obsession with the tropical crop Theobroma cacao. Well, I haven't eaten any chocolate in a week (gasp!) as part of my chocoholics anonymous program (I CAN beat down the nightly cravings), but I have replaced one tropical indulgence with another: frozen mango from Trader Joe's (source: Peru). Now I have to say, it is definitely healthier for my bank account ($2.29 for 3-5 servings vs. 2 servings), and probably better for my overall health, but I still run into the issue inherent in consuming tropical fruits - it comes from so dang far away!

The mango is a tree crop indigenous to the Indian sub-continent, but presently grown world-wide in the tropics. While many local species exist, all commercially distributed mango cultivars fall under the species Magnifera indica. It is estimated that this fleshy fruit was domesticated around 4000 years ago, and as such you can imagine that mangoes are not only economically, but culturally significant through Southeast Asia and the Pacific Isles. Though the fruit is a relatively recent arrival in the Americas, hitching a ride during the 'Age of Discovery' in the 15th and 16th centuries, it now supplies the bulk of exports to North America and Europe (see above map).

Mangoes are suited admirably to weathered, nutrient-deficient tropical soils, thriving in the less-fertile substrate. While it's hard to get info on the sustainability of specific countries' mango production, after surfing the interwebs it is apparent that mangoes follow a similar trend of other tropical commodity crops. Originally understory plants, they are now largely grown in plantations/orchards. Honestly, I couldn't really uncover much about typical practices, so I don't have a good handle on the impacts of mango production ... would welcome any insight! You can find mangoes in fair trade and organic varieties, so perhaps that would be the most environmentally-sound choice available.

But why am I even contemplating mangoes? While at a recent meeting of the agriculture/ development variety, it dawned on me (not for the first time) that the local food "movement" is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it is a lovely idea for a society to grow, sell, and consume comestibles within a reasonable geographic region. However, the livelihoods of millions of people primarily in developing countries (not to mention entire countries' economies) rely on agricultural commodity exports. Yes, fair trade and organic options probably yield some additional benefits to these people, but it's hard to tell. This is where I struggle. I don't have answers for this dilemma, and vacillate between pro- and anti- tropical produce purchases. What do you think? Does local and seasonal win out over these tropical imports? Is there a balance you try to reach?

One of the reasons mango has been on my mind, is because I increased my consumption of the fruit during my quasi-raw diet week. While I mainly just eat chunks of frozen mango, I tried to branch out for a bit of creativity, with smoothies and this quinoa dish:

Raw Mango Sticky "Rice" (serves 2)

1/2 cup sprouted quinoa

1/4 cup coconut

5-10 drops stevia

1-2 tbs agave nectar

1 tbs ground flax seed

2 tbs coconut milk

1/2 large mango, diced

1. Sprout quinoa (directions are in Ani's Raw Food Essentials). You can also use 1/2 cup coconut milk and 1/2 cup water or unsweetened almond milk to cook quinoa as normal (maybe until slightly softer than usual).

2. If you are going for the cooked variety, you can really just add the rest of the ingredients after the quinoa is done and eat up! For the raw version, I combined all the ingredients, except for the diced mango, in a food processor and whizzed together. Start low with the sweetener, and adjust as necessary. The mango will add a kick of sugar, so err on the side of not sweet.

3. Add mango. Eat immediately or refrigerate for up to a day ... otherwise the quinoa starts sprouting big time and it gets a little awkward to eat.

Happy eating; please consume consciously!

Further Reading:

Recent New York Times Mango Recipes -

Pigeon Peas with Mango

Red Coconut Rice Pudding with Mango

Mangos - Wikipedia

Litz, R.E. ed. 2009. The Mango, 2nd Edition: Botany, Production, and Uses. CAB International: Oxfordshire, UK.

Also, check out some other Slightly Indulgent recipes at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free.