Mango Baked Beans Recipe

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by The National Mango Board.

The easiest way to break out of a routine is to try something new. That is especially true for food. I enjoy trying new foods and introducing my boys to them.

One fruit I recently introduced to my children were mangoes. In order to learn a bit more about mangoes and how to prepare them easily I went to a cooking presentation with my son Luke. The event was sponsored by The National Mango Board. It was very fun for us both and very enlightening.

Most people do not realize there are 6 variety of mangoes in the USA and that mangoes are one of the few fruits available the whole year round. Besides just being very delicious and versatile when it comes to their use, mangoes are actually very healthy. They have as much Vitamin C as oranges. One cup of diced mango contains 100 calories, 1 gram protein, 0.5 grams fat, 25 grams of carbohydrate (23 grams of sugar and 3 grams of fiber), 100% of the daily need for vitamin C, 35% for vitamin A, 20% of folate, 10% of vitamin B-6 and 8% of vitamin K and potassium. That’s a lot of goodness in one fruit!

Together, Luke and I learned and created awesome mango snack recipes from a culinary expert.Here are some tips we were given:

• Selecting: Don’t judge a mango by its color – red does not mean ripe. To find a ripe mango, just squeeze gently. A ripe mango will be slightly soft like a peach or avocado. A firm mango will ripen at room temperature over a few days.
• Prepping: To cut a mango, simply slice off the sides of the fruit, avoiding the large seed in the center.  Once you have these two sides, you can get to the flesh and slice or dice as needed. Then, simply scoop it out of the skin. For more on how to cut a mango or delicious new recipes, visit Mango.org.
• Storing: Keep unripe mangoes at room temperature. Never refrigerate mangos before they are ripe. Once ripe, mangoes can be moved to the refrigerator to slow down ripening for several days.

And some fun facts I didn’t know about the tasty Mango:

• Mangos are one of the most popular fruit in the World
• Mangos were first grown in India over 5,000 years ago
• Mango seeds traveled with humans from Asia to the Middle East, East Africa and South America beginning around 300 or 400 A.D.
• The paisley pattern, developed in India, is based on the shape of a mango
• A basket of mangos is considered a gesture of friendship in India
• Legend says that Buddha meditated under the cool shade of a mango tree
• Mangos are related to cashews and pistachios
• A mango tree can grow as tall as 100 feet
• The bark, leaves, skin and pit of the mango have been used in folk remedies for centuries.

Luke learned how to make a Cinco De Mango Quesadilla and Frozen Yogurt Dipped Mango Pops. At first Luke was shy about the Mangoes but then once he realized how sweet and juicy they were he was hooked. .

As we were both delighted we decided to make a tasty dish with mango at home very soon. We received a great cookbook full of flavorful mango recipes. I chose to try out the Mango Baked Bean recipe this week.

This is a very easy recipe. The prep time is just a few minutes. I started by gathering all the ingredients. I chopped the bacon and onions and the mango. While the bacon was frying, I started to make the sauce.  It’s a very sweet sauce with molasses and brown sugar.

As soon as the bacon was crispy and onions were clear, I added the beans and combined the sauce. The last thing to add was the mango (mango can be pureed or in chunks). Everything needs to be stirred well together and then it needs to be baked in the oven.

While the beans are baking you can go ahead and make anything you wish to use as the main entree. I chose to grill up some steak and shrimp because it was a nice day and fresh grilled meat sounded fantastic.

I hope you are a fan of mangoes. If you just became one, head out to a grocery store and pick up a few. Make a dish, juice them, or best of all eat them freshly cut up. I would love to hear what you came up with.