Mango Lunch Box Cake

by Linda on February 1, 2010

I have a few pet hates with food, and most of them have to do with kids lunchboxes. Poppers are one – overpackaged, overprocessed sugar and artificial flavourings with most of the good stuff you associate with the word “fruit” taken out. Muesli bars are another.

There’s plenty of research around to justify my rant. A Parents Jury study found “While we set out to congratulate a healthier snack bar alternative that lives up to its marketing claims, we simply couldn’t find one among the 21 products identified as a suitable option for children. Every product identified by parents was high in sugar, and over two thirds of the products contained moderate to high levels of fat.”

The much-marketed LCMs were amongst the worst – “This product should not be recommended as a regular lunch box food. It has very little dietary fibre and contains a harmful level of saturated fat. Worst of all, it has as much sugar as many types of confectionery, making it a disaster from both a dental and nutritional viewpoint.”

So this is the first in what I hope will be a series of postings taking on muesli bars. I have a group of  reviewers lined up. Their brief is to take my challenger to school each week and rate it in the comments, for how it tasted, how well it satisfied hungriness, and how it rated in trade value with their friends.

The rules are that the Challenger must be within the limits of the Witches Kitchen version of healthy and ethical, and also has to be quick and easy enough to make that it is actually a realistic option for busy parents (or kids themselves).

Challenger Number 1: Mango Lunch Box Cake

There are several bits of this recipe that don’t seem right and you’ll just have to trust me! It has no sugar, no butter or oil, only 5 ingredients (not counting water), and though it takes an hour to bake, it takes only 10 minutes to make. But it really is sweet enough for even the most sweet-toothed kid, it is moist, it lasts well, and mangoes are a super food, so it’s super healthy. With mangoes in season the way they are right now, it’s also very economical.

450 gm chopped up mango and juice. (This will be about 2 large mangoes or 3 smaller ones.)
500 g mixed dried fruit – the kind without cherries or peel.
½ cup water (or a little more if your mangoes are not as juicy)
1 ½ teaspoons bicarb
1 ½ cups wholemeal SR flour
2 eggs

Put the mango, fruit and water in a stainless steel or enamel pot, bring to the boil, and simmer uncovered for two minutes. Allow to cool while you grease a 14cm x 23 cm loaf pan and line it with baking paper. Lightly beat two eggs and sift the bicarb and flour together. Mix with the mango and fruit, pour into the pan, and bake in a moderately slow oven (160C) for 45 minutes to an hour, until a skewer comes out clean.

Green Bean and Mango Salad

by Linda on January 30, 2010

The nice thing about bean gluts is that you can just let them fully mature and dry on the vine, then store them for using in dried bean recipes, like refried beans or nachos or baked beans or ful medames. But I don’t quite want to let these beans go yet! Once you stop picking them, they stop flowering and setting more beans. And I have another few weeks before the next planting starts bearing. So we’re eating lots of green beans!

This is one of my all-time favourite ways to eat them, and it has the advantage of using our other current glut – mangoes. We had it for dinner last night, and it was so good I had to immediately make it again for dinner tonight!

Make the dressing first then let it sit for just a few minutes while you assemble the rest. Mix equal amounts of lemon juice and olive oil (2 tablespoons or so of each) with a finely chopped chili, a clove of garlic crushed, a half a little finger sized piece of fresh ginger minced, 2 teaspoons of sugar, and a tablespoon of fish sauce. I often make lime or lemon cordial in winter when they are prolific, just to have on hand for recipes like this, and use a tablespoon or so (depending how strong it is) instead of the juice and sugar.

Slice and blanch 250 gm green beans and drain well. Mix with a sliced mango (or two small mangoes), a handful of mung bean sprouts, and a good amount (2 tablespoons or so) of chopped fresh mint. Toss through the dressing and serve.

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Mango (or Blueberry, or Peach) Breakfast Oatcakes

by Linda on January 19, 2010

The great mango glut is almost over – only a few more weeks – and the grapes will run out about the same time. Next will be kiwi fruit and figs and pomegranates – I went around squeezing them all this morning but they are not quite ready. But we don’t get this kind of mango season every year so I am making the most of it while I can!

This recipe has three superfoods – oats, eggs, and mangoes. Mangoes are really high in Vitamin C and beta carotene, and a decent source of several minerals. Eggs are protein, and also a good source of lots of vitamins including the hard to get B12, and they are rich in choline, which is important for memory. Oats are a low calorie, fairly low GI carbohydrate, with good amounts of B vitamins and several minerals, and they stop cholesterol from being oxidised and deposited in your arteries.

So all in all, it’s a great before school or work breakfast recipe. It is also really fast and easy for busy mornings, and can be eaten one-handed whilst searching for socks.

To make 6 oatcakes, beat two eggs and add half a cup of low fat milk, half a cup of rolled oats (not quick oats, just ordinary rolled oats, preferably organic), and a good tablespoonful of wholemeal SR flour.

Let it soak for a few minutes while you dice one large or two small-to-medium mangoes. You should end up with a mixture like the picture.  It doesn’t need any sugar, and I like it better without any spices, letting the mango have the floor.

Fry spoonfuls in a little butter in a heavy non-stick pan on a medium heat until they are set and golden both sides.

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Mango Lhassi

December 31, 2009

While mangoes are in season, I’ve started making a mango lhassi for breakfast. Mangoes and yoghurt are both super-foods, and it is quick and easy enough for busy mornings. BBC ran an experiment about losing weight that showed that the same number of calories in a soup (or smoothie) keep you feeling full longer: So a lhassi breakfast is even more healthy if you are looking at keeping the calories down.

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Hot Mango and Tomato Chutney

December 30, 2009

Our mangoes are starting to ripen, and this year there is a bumper crop. I remember as a child in suburban Rockhampton mangoes were so prolific in their season that they laid thick on the ground making even the air alcoholic, and even the flying foxes couldn’t get through them. I’m not big on preserves. Many years ago I made a rule that I was not going to preserve anything unless the preserve was tastier than the original, the amount of gas, electricity, or firewood it cost was proportionate to how much tastier, and the amount of work it took was similarly proportionate. This recipe is one that makes it through the test!

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