Background: I’m mostly a local, seasonal fruit and veg kind of guy, myself. But my kids aren’t big into hand-harvesting Mexican plums. So I do whatever I can to expose them to variety, despite my own ideals. Still, they get into this rut where they will only eat, say, Santa Claus melon in the warmer months and Honeycrisp apples in the cooler months. I try to mix it up in subtle ways. That doesn’t work. I try telling them that all we had was cantaloupe for melons and Red Delicious apples and they should be grateful for the variety. That really doesn’t work. So then I just find the craziest fruits I can find and make this deal: try one bite of this crazy fruit and it will count as a fruit or vegetable tonight and you can have dessert. Or you can have a whole serving of another preferred fruit or vegetable and get dessert. Results vary. At least it breaks up the monotony. Here are some fruit moves along with what to do with the inevitable leftovers.
- Kiwi: Cut in half and serve in an egg cup with a spoon for novel presentation and easy scooping.
- Mango: It’s a tricky one to dice, but if you can get past that, it goes great with sticky rice with cream of coconut.
- Star fruit: This one is best sliced thin because it comes out (duh) like a star. The taste and texture are like a cross between an apple and a melon, so try serving them on crackers with peanut butter.
- Dragon fruit: Slice this one in half and use a melon baller to serve Dragon Balls (after Dragon Ball Z) on toothpicks.
- Santa Claus melon: Do a Christmas in July themed dinner around this one. It’s kind of like cantaloupe, but the outside is shaped like a green football. I like to make fruit skewers with this one and some other more common melons.
- Passion fruit: Make a Passion Potion by scooping out the flesh into a blender and pulsing it on high for a bit. Let the seeds settle and then pour through a doubled cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer. Mix with apple juice if you need to make it more palatable.
- Pomegranate: Just like watermelon seed spitting contests we used to have as kids, you can set up a spitting contest with pomegranate seeds. Set up small hula hoops on the ground and then give each kid a half pomegranate and see how many seeds they can get out, clean off, and spit into their ring. (Diving rings make it even more challenging.)
- Kumquat: Have a giant party where you get tiny stand-ins for well-known foods. Lil smokies become hot dogs. Baby corn stands in for corn on the cob. And the kumquat takes the place of an orange.
What To Do With the Leftovers:
- Kiwi: Make a fruit tart with a sugar cookie base and an orange-juice glaze. Tile the kiwi around the cookie and give it another go.
- Mango: Make mango salsa to serve with fish dishes. (And by “make” sometimes I mean “stir cubes of mango into store-bought salsa to preserve it and use it up.)
- Star fruit: Just eat the slices and think about the carbon emissions it took for that one piece of fruit to get to you.
- Dragon fruit: Freeze the balls and re-serve as Dragon Ball pops.
- Santa Claus melon: I don’t usually have much of this one left, but when I do, I serve it with prosciutto and pretend that I’m a person who has set up his life so that he could attend a fancy brunch.
- Passion fruit: While salsa is my go-to for extra mango, hot sauce is my go-to for passion fruit. Add a habanero or two, some salt, vinegar, sugar, and spices to your Passion Potion and you’ve got a great hot sauce.
- Pomegranate: I don’t know, man. You are on your own.
- Kumquat: Use these to make juice and use the juice to make the glaze for the kiwi fruit tart.
Mods:
- Just stick to Honeycrisps in the fall/winter and Cantaloupe in the spring/summer.
- Do an all exotic veggie night and then try these fruits again.
- Try miracle fruit powder next time.