Mango Asparagus (and Mango Sorbet)

Today's recipe is kind of a multi-tasker--really, it's two recipes in one, so hold onto your horses, o faithful readers.

Despite all my autumnal cooking this weekend (or perhaps BECAUSE of it), I did manage to sneak in a lighter, more end-of-summery dish (or two?) as well (despite the fact that I coupled it with the braised seitan dinner I mentioned yesterday, which in all truth, it didn't fit in with really--but ah well).

My friend D has been trying to coerce me into making him mango sorbet ever since I brought in some of my avocado sorbet for him to taste. So this weekend I decided to tackle the task, all in the name of asparagus.

Yes, asparagus.

I wanted to add a vegetable other than mashed taters on with my braised seitan dinner, and asparagus is always my go-to guy. But since the temperature actually *was* in the 80s this weekend, I didn't wanna go my usual route of broiling it because it would've heated up my kitchen unbearably.

So instead, I decided that steaming the asparagus would not contribute too much to the stuffiness of my apartment, *AND* I could also top it with some mango sorbet for a bit of pizazz (which gave me a reason to actually *make* the sorbet finally).

The end results were mixed. Strangely, I really liked the asparagus topped with the mango sorbet--it was nice and light and the flavors were a lovely, crisp contrast to one another, but the sorbet on its own didn't do a whole heckuva lot for me. My avocado sorbet was luxuriant and creamy--the mango sorbet was moreso just icy and overly-sweet. It kinda had the came consistency as a lemon-ice. And the recipe seemed to call for way more sugar than necessary, seeing as mangos are naturally sweet. So really, I could take it or leave it. And next time around, I'll probably just leave it and try out a different recipe on the mango-sorbet front instead.

But here it be anyways.

MANGO ASPARAGUS
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 bunch of asparagus


• Mango sorbet (recipe follows)

DIRECTIONS:
Steam asparagus until tender but not too soft. Drain. Serve topped with mango sorbet. Way too damn simple.



MANGO SORBET

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 c. vegan sugar


• 3/4 c. water


• Juice from one lime


• 2 mangos, peeled and chunked

DIRECTIONS:
Put the sugar and water in a small pot on the stove. Bring them to a boil while stirring frequently. Once sugar is dissolved, remove from heat. Place mango chunks and lime juice in a food processor. Once sugar-water mixture has cooled, add this to the food processor as well. Pulse until well-blended and smooth. Place in a metal pan of some sort (I used a cake pan) and put in freezer. After an hour or so, remove and whip a bit. Return to freezer, this time covered in plastic wrap. Let freeze until frozen completely.