Gazpacho and the Evil Mango

Is there anything worse than a bad mango?  I think not.  Seeing as it's the best fruit in the entire universe, I am always disappointed when I buy a mango that smells sweet, feels the proper maturity and then low and behold when I cut into it, the evil stringiness comes out and attacks my poor teeth like possessed floss.  You won this round Mango, but don't think I'm giving up your deliciousness this easily.  I'll be back for more.  Oh yes, I will be back for more.  I digress…

As for dinner, I was unsure of what to cook tonight.  I didn't really feel like cooking, but I wanted to use some of the vegetables my roommate and I got from our food share this week.  Should I make something with the kohlrabi?  Should I use those greens that I can never remember the name of? In the end I was very un-resourceful and I bought bread and tomatoes for a gazpacho.  (I also bought the aforementioned evil mango which I will explain shortly.)  I have never made gazpacho but I figured it couldn't be that hard.  Everything gets blended together anyway so how much could I mess it up?  The good news is it wasn't awful, but the flavor did not seem

right.  I loosely followed a gazpacho recipe, but loosely is the key word.  I was too lazy to measure anything and I knew from the beginning that the mediocre tomatoes I bought at the bodega down the street were not going to give me the luscious and earthy tomato taste that I wanted.  In the end, I used a mixture of tomato, bread, garlic, salt, sugar, vinegar (only a little because I am one of those weird people that doesn't like vinegar very much), a little cucumber, and Spanish olive oil.  It turned out more of an orangey color rather than the pinkish-red I was expecting but that was probably due to the bread, which I may have added too much of, and the lackluster tomatoes.  As a garnish, and for texture, I toasted some pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and sprinkled them on top, which both looked and tasted nice.  Although the bodega did not have good tomatoes, I do love that they have a great assortment of seeds, nuts, and produce that you wouldn't be able to find most other places around the city.

For dessert I thought it would be a great idea to whip up some Greek yogurt with diced mango and the rhubarb compote I made for Sunday's brunch.  This is where the evil floss monster came into play.  Right when I cut into his rubbery flesh I knew I was doomed.  I could feel my knife catching on his fibrous innards as I sliced away.  I went along with the plan even though I knew my teeth would be screaming at me later.  first I placed a layer of the evil being in the bowl, then I scooped out a few dollops of Greek yogurt and I fished it off with the rhubarb compote and three pathetic chunks of the sweet devil on top.  The final product looked like what I was going for if it had been eaten first and then vomited back into the bowl.  The compote got all runny and watery on the sides and bottom and it made the yogurt look like it was cracking and drowning.  Poor Yogurt.  Drowned by the compote, molested by the stringy mango, and then eaten by me.  Rough day.  In all fairness, the taste was actually pretty good, but it did look a little like death.  Hopefully next time will be better.

I should go floss…