Did someone say mango season?

It's that time of year again. The trees have flowered, and their fruits have set and are starting to ripen. Riding my bike home from yoga after dark, the whole town smells like mangoes. But, it's still the early days and no one is selling any mangoes at the markets. So last weekend Andy and I took matters into our own hands. We were at uni on Saturday to do some work, and before going home we toured around to a few of the mango trees on campus and helped ourselves to a bag full of a combination of Bowens and an asian variety (chok annan or nam doc mai, I think).

They were all pretty green and there was no chance they would ripen before Andy set off on his field trip. But, inspired by Brisvegan's green mango salad, I decided to make something with them in their current state. That spiralled into a whole tropical-themed dinner.

Green mango salad with crushed peanuts, the suggested variation of Green Papaya Salad from The Tropical Vegan Kitchen.

Coconut crusted tofu with lemongrass and capsicum sauce, from The Urban Vegan cookbook.

And baked sweet potato chippies, gently spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg.

For dessert, a coconut jelly (agar, sugar, coconut cream) with "Aussie-style Green Mango Sauce" from The Tropical Vegan Kitchen. The green mango sauce is simple--mango, sugar and water, cooked like apple sauce. I don't know how "Aussie-style" it actually is, but it was yummy enough. Andy said it would be better as a chutney than as a dessert item, but I liked its simple sweet-tartness.

Luckily, this all only used about 5 or 6 mangoes, so I've still got a fair few ripening on the benchtop... (See all of my other mango-themed posts.)