Rachael Ray Every Day – September 2019

Baking Soda Saves the Day

MANGOES

Give the mango’s bright and

crunchy side a try: Look for

firmness and a color more green

than yellow, or head to an Asian

market to find deliberately

unripe mangoes. Go the Indian

route and chop one up to make

a quick pickle with vinegar,

sugar, and chiles. —AG

PA PAYA S

You’ve probably tasted the

pulpy, musky fruit when ripe,

but a green one is another

animal: white, crunchy, and

slightly spongy inside, like a raw

zucchini. In Thailand, papayas

are shredded for salad. Got a

spiralizer? Toss green papaya

curlicues in a peanutty dressing.

PLANTAINS

When sweet, soft, and yellow

or brown, they’re called

maduros (“mature” in Spanish).

Before they’re ripe, you’ll

need a knife to cut off the

peels. The starchy, mild fruit

is then treated like a potato and

fried, steamed, braised,

or mashed.

TOMATOES

Anyone who grows tomatoes

knows that this time of year,

there are always some green

stragglers that are firmer and

tart. In the South, they’re

dredged in cornmeal and fried.

In Jewish delis, they’re pickled for

a grassy flavor and crunchiness.

We endorse both methods.

NOT RIPE?

NOT AN ISSUE

1

SOOTHE A BURN Make a paste with baking soda and water, then carefully spread it over the

burn to ease the ouch. Also works for bee stings!

2

TAME THE TRASH You probably already stash a box in the back of your fridge to keep odors

at bay, but you can sprinkle some in the bottom of your trash can, too.

3

SCRUB STUFF Dust the inside of that marinara-stained plastic food-saver with baking soda

and add a little water to make a slurry, then scrub those stains away. The same trick will work on

that silicone spatula that smells like last night’s curry.

4

STOP A SMOKING OVEN Oops. You filled that lasagna pan a bit too high, and now it’s bubbling

all over the oven. Sprinkle some baking soda over the drip zone to instantly stop the smoke.

—JANET TAYLOR MCCRACKEN

We’re giving you

the gre en light to

eat these fruits

before they’re ready.

Four genius ways to use what’s in that orange box

from the test kitchen