“Yes, we have two cucumbers and we have, …… ahh …… not much else!”

It’s amazing how creativity moves into full gear when there isn’t much to work with. Thankfully, the result turned out to be appreciated by everyone and I added another recipe to our book.

This was one of the dishes served that day. See how you like it.

Cucumber Supreme Salad

(Gluten Free)

Ingredients:

• 2    x   Lebanese Cucumbers

  2 Tbls  Garlic Chives (diced)

  ¼ cup  Macadamia Nuts (soaked & chopped) 
  ¼ cup  Cashews (chopped)

  1 Tbls  Dried Tomatoes (thinly sliced) 
  1 Tbls  Salt water (according to taste) – saturated salt water solution

  ½ Tbls Apple Cider Vinegar

  1 Tbls  Red Onion (thinly sliced) 
  A few  Cherry Tomatoes sliced for decoration

Optional:

        Red Bell Pepper, Parsley for garnish

Method:

• 1. With potato peeler, peel strips down the length of each cucumber so you have alternating green and white stripes (this helps create the illusion that you have more in there than just cucumbers).
  
• 2. Cut cucumbers lengthways in half. Hold the two halves together and then cut into diagonal slices.
  
• 3. Gently mix in salt to taste (approx 1/4 tsp) and vinegar.
  
• 4. Gently stir in chopped Nuts, Onion, Dried Tomatoes and Garlic Chives.
  
• 5. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes to 2 hours; stir once or twice during this time to keep juices distributed.
  
• 6. Just before serving, uncover and stir one final time.
  
• 7. Decorate with Cherry Tomato wedges, Bell Pepper and or Parsley.
  
• 8. Serve and Enjoy

Background

In case you didn’t know, cucumbers are related to the watermelon, zucchini, pumpkin and other squashes. They are a refreshing, cooling food and ideal for the hot summer months. Think “cool as a cucumber”.

Cucumbers make great pickling material. In fact, the way we prepared this dish is part-way towards pickling. It gives a chance for the juices to flow and flavors to blend.

Experiment a little with this idea and have fun.

If you have been a little timid in trying them yourself, then I hope this article will motivate you to give them a go. I’ll also share a delicious smoothie recipe I came up with that I think is a real winner.

We are fortunate enough to live in an area where Dragon Fruit can grow reasonably well. I’ve seen this unusual, cactus-like plant using other trees and shrubs as support and growing quite high. You might even describe it as a “vine-like” cactus. Only last year did I see one in full fruit and recognized it.

Here’s a photo of several commercially-grown Green Dragon fruit plants taken in Southern Vietnam  (thanks to Nhã Lê Hoàn for the photo below  http://www.flickr.com/photos/vietnamfriendly/ )

Of course, these cacti have been “trained” to grow up posts for the purpose of make picking easier. Normally they would not be so neatly configured in their growth.

“Dragon Fruit” is the common name. They are also called pitaya or pitahaya. It is the fruit obtained from several cactus species belonging to the genus Hylocereus. These are what is called the “sweet pitayas” (there are others that are not sweet). The skin is somewhat “leafy-looking” with a leathery texture.

Native to Mexico, Central and South America, they are now commonly cultivated in many SE Asian countries, northern Australia and even Israel.

Of the “sweet pitaya” variety, there are three main types:

Red Pitaya – red skinned with white fruit & black seeds (most common).
Yellow Pitaya – yellow-skinned with white flesh and black seeds.
Costa Rica Pitaya – red-skinned with red flesh and black seeds.

What we had available for the photos in this article was the Costa Rica variety. For more info and photos of varieties that may be available in your area CLICK HERE for the Wikipedia reference to this fruit.

Eating The Dragon Fruit:
The flesh is usually eaten raw. The ones, of the Costa Rica variety, that we have tasted, have a beautiful, mildly sweet flavor. A little bit reminiscent of watermelon and strawberry together. The small black seeds are crunchy (if you happen to chew that well) and not a bother at all.

According to Wikipedia “the fruit is also converted into juice or wine, or used to flavor other beverages” and that “the flowers can be eaten or steeped as tea”.

Serving Suggestions:
For an elegant and colorful presentation, you could cut the fruit vertically down through the center into quarters and then into thin wedges, as you would a watermelon with the skin attached. This can be arranged quite attractively on a serving plate with a sprinkle of chopped fresh mint.

Alternatively, you could cut the fruit in half, lengthwise, and use a small round scoop to extract small portions to add to desserts or just eat it as it is for a quick snack.

“Ginana Dragon” Smoothie Recipe

Here’s my recipe for a really great tasting smoothie. Lacking further creativity, I named it the “Ginana Dragon” Smoothie, for reasons that will become obvious.

      INGREDIENTS
        (1 – 2 Servings)
125g Dragon Fruit flesh
110g Ripe Banana
Slice of fresh ginger
1 cup water
Sprig of fresh Mint for decoration

The ingredients are in the photo above. The recipe is based around one half of the dragon fruit, one banana, a bit of fresh ginger and mint.

Measure out the ingredients and blend till smooth. Best served chilled.
Serve in an appropriate glass and top with a sprig of fresh mint. ENJOY !! ….
Oh Yumm!! I just finished a tall glass of the stuff as I write this.

Naturally, if you have one of the other varieties of the Pitaya then you may need to make some modifications for presentation.

If you get around to making your own creations with Dragon Fruit, I’d love to hear about it. Have Fun.

Cheers, Sven

Native to South and South-East Asian countries its fruit is usually around 10 – 12 inches in diameter or more.

It is the national fruit of Bangladesh, has been cultivated in India for centuries. and is also very common in the Philippines and Brazil in particular.

We live in a more-or-less sub-tropical area of SE Queensland in Australia and Jackfruit is not something that you see much here at all. But when it does show up in the markets or at a store, it is quickly pounced on by those who know about it. Others just stare at these wondering, “What on earth is that!?

The one in the photos below was one of about a dozen or so delivered to our Natural Foods Store by a local grower. Word quickly got around members of the Asian community here and the supply disappeared almost as quickly as it came in.

This particular one weighed in at about 6 or 7 Kgs.
(That translates as about 13 – 15 lbs or so).

We had never purchased one of these fruits before and knew very little about them, so it was a lot of fun discovering the intricacies of this curious fruit. Of course, a quick search of the Internet gave us a crash course in how to proceed.

 The fruit was very firm when it was purchased, but within a day or two it had started to soften up inside and then things started to feel REALLY creepy!!

Why do I say “creepy”?

Well, as the fruit ripened and began to soften inside, the outside remained tough and rough, something like you’d imagine the hide of a crocodile or large lizard to be.

It took on the feel and appearance of some alien, reptilian creature. It even sounded a little hollow as the surface was tapped with the flat of the hand. With a little bit of imagination (or that “funny” weed) you’d swear the thing would sprout legs and run off the table.

With this image in mind, sticking a large knife into it was even more challenging. Would it let out a blood-curdling scream as I did so? 

WARNING!! 
The`sap of the Jackfruit is very sticky and will stick to most anything it touches. It is like a white sticky, latex-type substance. Before attempting to cut into the Jackfruit it is wise to oil your knife, cutting board, hands and anything that might come in contact with the sap. Alternatively you could use rubber gloves for your hands.

 As you can see, the cross-section, resembles something like that of a reptilian brain.

If we hadn’t researched this fruit on the Internet we would have been stuck at this point.

“What is edible? What is not?”

As you can see, the flesh of the Jackfruit looks, and IS very fibrous. Around the central core radiates fibrous “capsules” (called Arils) of sweet flesh. Each aril contains a large light creamy-brown seed.

The seeds are smooth in texture and apparently can be eaten either baked or boiled. It is supposed to taste a bit like chestnuts. CLICK HERE for a great blog post about eating the seeds.

We didn’t find out about eating the seeds till later, so we’ll have to wait till next season (Feb – April here is Oz) to try that.

METHOD:
With each half of the Jackfruit, we’d poke around with a large spoon (or fingers if you really want to get into it) to isolate and scoop out the capsules of seed-containing flesh.

Th process is not clear-cut at all, so you just have to feel your way around the entire perimeter of the core of each half. It’s easy to miss one, so be very methodical in your approach.

 As you can see from the photo. I’ve included a complete flesh “capsule” in with the bowl of seeds.

The bowl on the right is what’s left after extracting the seeds.

In the background is the Jackfruit “carcass” as we called it. It looks like there is plenty still to eat in there, but it is so very fibrous you’d get turned off it rather quick.

A lot of the whole fruit ends up in the compost as it is simply inedible. The whole process took quite a bit of work to complete. If you knew what you were doing it would be no big deal.

TASTE:
The flesh is very sweet and somewhat “slimy” in texture. I’ve heard someone liken the tasty to that of “Juicy Fruit Gum”. Hmmm, I’m not so sure about that,… but close. I tend to think of mango crossed with banana and papaya.

Not to try and put you off at all, but Karen just reminded me that to her, the slimy texture reminded her of oysters.

We found it to be very “rich” also, so we had to eat it sparingly. Most of what remained was frozen and then used up later bit by bit in smoothies or simply as a one-off frozen treat by itself.

Overall, the experience was great value. If you see Jackfruit in the store we’d definitely recommended giving yourself the experience. BE BRAVE.

Hopefully what I’ve described here will give you a bit of a head-start and you can confidently purchase one if they’re available in your area. Take it home, plonk it on the table one fine sunny afternoon, and pretend that you really know what you are doing. You’ll definitely have an experience you won’t forget in a hurry.

HAVE FUN!!

More info on Jackfruit CLICK HERE