July 2016

The latest superstars to arrive on our produce shelves are these colorful and somewhat odd-shaped, exciting fruit varieties. Dragon Fruit This pointy, odd-looking, edible fruit of a cactus species is also known as Pitaya. The inside flesh will either be bright white or deep red, and both types have a similar texture to kiwi fruit, with very mild, subtle flavors. The thin leathery "dragon-like" skin is very easy to slice or peel off the soft, inner flesh. For a refreshing and exciting fruit salad idea, cube up some mango, pineapple and jicama; toss together in a bowl. Top the fruit mixture with slices of peeled dragon fruit to give your tasty tropical fruit salad a very subtle white or vivid red color pop. Star Fruit The mildly tart-tasting, multi-ridged greenish-yellow star fruit is popular throughout Southeast Asia, Australia, South America, Hawaii and Florida. Star fruit is completely ripe when the skin appears mostly yellow, with some brown spots

For as long as I can remember I have been a picky eater. One of my fondest memories was the first time I tried pineapple. I was about 10 years old and I did not want that yellow, creepy-looking fruit anywhere near me. Until one night, just days before we were scheduled to go to Hawaii on a family vacation my parents informed me that I wouldn’t be let into Hawaii unless I tried pineapple. As a 10 year old I believed them and the fear of being stranded at the airport scared me. So I cried for about 15 minutes before finally trying it, and guess what? I loved it! Although, I was too proud to admit my parents were right. Now that I’m older I’m all about trying new things and now came my time to try Kombucha. One

The first thought that comes to mind when I think of a coconut are memories of sitting between two palms while sipping on a sweet frozen beverage.  But there is more than meets the eye with this exotic treat. Coconuts have been utilized for centuries for their juice, meat, milk and oil. Until recently coconut fat has been deemed “unhealthy” because of the presence of saturated fat which we now know to be untrue in the case of the coconut. So what makes the fat from coconuts healthier than other fats? It all has to do with the composition of fat molecules within the coconut. All fat is made up of chains of fatty acids which are then classified based on their molecular length. The longer and more complex the fatty acid, the harder it is for the body to break down