Tropical Tuesday: I Am Growing The Fruit Summer Zucchini Squash In My Yard

Yes, you read well, fruit. Did you know that zucchini and squash are actually fruits and not vegetables?

THIS BEAUTY IS IN MY GARDEN

Since squash contains seeds and develops from the flower-producing part of a plant, it is botanically a fruit. Squash isn’t the only plant that gets confused for a vegetable. Other fruits frequently called veggies include tomatoes, eggplants, avocados, and cucumbers.

Exotic Tropical Fruit Of The Week: Carambola AKA Starfruit

IDEAS HOW TO EAT THIS FANTASTIC FRUIT!

This is how Carambola Tree grows the fruit

MY STARFRUIT JUICE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 Starfruit cut into pieces
• 1 lemon worth of lemon juice
• 1 tbsp stevia
• 1 scoop creatine monohydrate
• 1 cup ice
• 1 cup water

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.   Add the starfruit, lemon juice, stevia, and creatine to the blender
2.   Blend
3.   Strain into a glass
4.  Serve garnished with a lemon or starfruit star

CINNAMON STARFRUIT TART

GRILLED SALMON WITH CARAMBOLA/STARFRUIT SALAD

Exotic Tropical Fruit Of The Week: Tamarillo Or Tree Tomato

You can eat this healthy, exotic and tropical South African native fruit in salads, juices, stews, roasted, in bread, or simply, cut them in half and eat them fresh. Your choice. But I guarantee you that you will love this fruit any way you decide to eat it.

Red Tamarillo Salad With Basil

It is South American native but you can grow it in your back yard from seed or a small plant bought in a nursery in your area.

Tamarillo Juice…Yummy!

It is a small-growing shrub or semi-woody tree reaching heights between 10-18 feet (3-5.5 mts.).

Tamarillo trees bloom in early spring, producing fragrant pink flowers. These blooms will eventually give way to small, oval or egg-shaped fruit, reminiscent of plum tomatoes—hence the tomato tree’s name.

Tamarillo Sesame Pork With Ginger

Tamarillo Loaf Cake

Baked Tamarillo With Maple Syrup And Crème Fraiche

Exotic Tropical Food Recipe For You To Enjoy: Thai Curry Vegetable Soup

Healthy Exotic Food to satisfy the most demanding palate!

INGREDIENTS

1. 1 bunch Baby bok choy
2. 1 Handful Cilantro, fresh
3. 2 cloves Garlic
4. 1 tbsp Ginger, fresh
5. 1 Lime
6. 1/2 Red onion
7. 1 Sweet potato (about 1 lb.), small 

CANNED GOODS

Vermicelli

• 1 13 oz can Coconut milk
• 2 tbsp Thai red curry paste
• 4 cups Vegetable or chicken broth 
• 1/2 tbsp Fish sauce
• 1 Sriracha
• 3 1/2 oz Rice vermicelli noodles
• 1/2 tbsp Brown sugar
• 2 tbsp Neutral cooking oil 

INSTRUCTIONS

• Prepare the vegetables for the soup and garnishes first, so they’re ready to go when needed. Mince the garlic and grate the ginger using a small-holed cheese grater. Peel and dice the sweet potato into one-inch cubes. Wash the bok choy well, then chop into one-inch strips, separating the fibrous stalks from the delicate green ends. Thinly slice the red onion and roughly chop the cilantro.

• Add the cooking oil to a large soup pot along with the minced garlic, grated ginger, and Thai red curry paste. Sauté the garlic, ginger, and curry paste over medium heat for 1-2 minutes.

• Add the diced sweet potato and chopped bok choy stalks to the pot (save the leafy green ends for later) along with the chicken or vegetable broth. Bring the pot to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 5-7 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are tender.

• While the soup is simmering, bring a small pot of water to a boil for the vermicelli. Once boiling, add the vermicelli and boil for 2-3 minutes, or just until tender. Drain the rice noodles in a colander and set aside.

• Once the sweet potatoes are tender, add the coconut milk, fish sauce, and brown sugar to the soup. Stir, taste, and adjust the fish sauce or brown sugar if needed. Finally, add the bok choy greens and let them wilt in the hot soup.

• To serve, divide the rice vermicelli among four bowls. Ladle the soup and vegetables over the noodles, then top with red onion, cilantro, a wedge or two of lime, and a drizzle of sriracha.

Exotic Tropical Messy Fun Food Of The Day: Dungeness Crab!

Oh, you can have Dungeness Crab in so many different ways. It -crab- is a feast of the heavens for my palate, and here are my picks of the day:

Food Dungeness Crab pan roasted in Chermoula Butter

Garlic and Chile Roasted Dungeness Crabs

Shell Lickin’ Spicy Garlic Dungeness Crab

Roasted Dungeness Crab with Garlic Butter

Exotic Tropical Fruit Of The Week: Chayote

CHAYOTE BRITISH AND AMERICAN PRONONCIATION: CLICK HERE

Chayote belongs to the same family as squash, melons and cucumbers and the plant is native to Mexico, where it grows abundantly. The fruit can be eaten raw and is used in salads, although most of the time it is cooked in soups or stews. Any way you eat it, you will love it.

One chayote gourd offers vitamin C (10.2 milligrams), vitamin E (.2 milligrams), vitamin K (5.4 micrograms), and vitamin B6 (.1 milligrams). It is also a great source of niacin (.6 milligrams), folate (123 micrograms), and choline (12.1 milligrams).

Chayote is also mineral and fiber-rich, providing calcium (22.4 milligrams), iron (.4 milligrams), magnesium (15.8 milligrams), phosphorous (23.8 milligrams), potassium (165 milligrams), and sodium (2.6 milligrams), as well as trace amounts of zinc, copper, manganese, and selenium.

FryDay Delicious Messy Fun Food: Stuffed Bell Peppers Recipe, And A Side Dish! Have A Great Weekend!

INGREDIENTES

• 6 Bell peppers
• 3 cloves Garlic
• 1 Onion, medium
• 1 1/2 tsp Oregano, dried
• 1 Parsley
• 1 (14.5-oz.) can Tomatoes
• 2 tbsp Tomato paste
• 1/2 cup Rice
• 2 tbsp Olive oil, extra-virgin
• 1 cup Monterey jack

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook rice according to package instructions.
• Meanwhile, trim about 1/4-inch from tops of bell peppers and then remove stems, ribs and seeds.
• Fill a baking dish just large enough to fit peppers with about 1/2-inch of water.
• Place peppers upside down in water, cover tightly with foil and bake 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile heat olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over-medium high heat.
• Add onion and sauté 3 minutes. Move onions to one far side of the skillet.

• Add beef in chunks, season with salt and pepper then let sear until browned on bottom, about 2 – 3 minutes.
• Break up beef and toss with onions and continue to cook 2 minutes, add garlic and cook until beef is cooked through about 1 minute longer.
• Remove from heat, drain off excess fat (I like to tilt skillet to one side and dab up excess fat using tongs and paper towels).

• Stir in tomatoes, half of the tomato sauce (about 1/2 cup), cooked rice, parsley, Italian seasoning and season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Reduce oven temperature to 350. Turn par-baked peppers upright and fill with beef filling.

• Pour remaining tomato sauce over peppers. Cover with foil and continue to bake 20 minutes.
• Remove from oven, sprinkle with cheese, return to oven and bake until peppers have reached desired tenderness, about 10 – 20 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve warm.

ACCOMPANY YOUR DELICIOUS STUFFED BELL PEPERS WITH SCRUMPTIOUS MEXICAN FRENCH FRIES!

Exotic Tropical Fruit Of The Week: Lucuma

Lucuma is a very exotic tropical fruit from Peru. This is the tree I cut my first Lucuma in Peru.

The flavor is unique and sweet. This is how it looks inside…yummy!

For some people is so sweet they rather use it in other things, like cakes, pies, pastries, puddings, ice creams, juices, and other things.

Lucuma Fresh Juice.

Actually, my first time learning about it was in a local Starbucks…in Peru.

This is how Peruvians sell Lucuma fruit in their markets. So tropical and deliciously colorful!