A Taste of Yellow: Tropical Fruit Salad for LiveSTRONG

This post has been delayed for almost 3 weeks now. I was only able to retrieve the photos from my brother-in-laws’ camera yesterday morning. Even if I have written my blog post, I can’t publish it without any photos. This post was originally entitled “Avocado and the Amigos” and my stories about the camera, my bad photo days for this blog, the hot weather and my cravings for Greek yogurt and figs. Although I failed to bookmark some fig recipes, here are a few worth trying: Warm Figs with Cambozola and Balsamic at Rouxbe Online Cooking School by my former chef instructor Tony Minichiello. It's irresistible and I haven’t even tasted it yet. Another tempting fig recipe is Black Mission Fig Spread with Lavender, Honey & Goat Cheese by my good friend Kim of Paper Apron. Of course, a delightful Rustic Fig and Goat Cheese Pizza by Sara of Sprouted Kitchen cannot also be missed.

Now, here’s the reason why I changed the blog title and its content. A few months ago, I stumbled into Barbara Harris’ Winos and Foodies. After knowing that she’s a cancer survivor, I wrote her about my late-father’s battle with cancer and to acknowledge her strength and courage in living life to the fullest. Then last Friday I remembered that I agreed to participate in A Taste of Yellow which is a blog event that raises cancer awareness. LiveSTRONG is an official LiveSTRONG Day event sanctioned by the Lance Armstrong Foundation.



I did remember that when my father was still alive, I told myself that one of my goals is to reduce the amount of people staying in the hospital by teaching people the importance of holistic nutrition to every individual through my passion and enthusiasm in whole food cooking. Thinking about what I’ve said, I felt that I’m not doing my part in doing that. Although I never promised my father anything, I believe that God is asking me to do this. Sometimes there are people in your life who are preventing you from doing what God is asking you to do. I’ve tried to forget the job offer from the International Culinary Arts Academy of Cebu. But I believe that when you teach students about whole food cooking aside from the culinary and pastry fundamentals and techniques, you are not only teaching them the importance of using real and whole foods, but you are also teaching them about life itself. Besides nutrition, in the very deepest meaning of the word means life. Every living thing (plants, animals, human beings, including soil) depends on nutrition.

For A Taste of Yellow event I would like to submit the same recipe that I’ve done for the "Avocado and the Amigos" blog post. I could make a pie or a cake or a cooked dish but for a good reason, I want to maintain the integrity of the fruits that are locally grown in the Philippines. Second, it’s the way how my late-father wants to eat it and he's an expert in choosing the best fruits. Third, people or companies do a lot of things to a certain ingredient and they forgot what a particular food tastes like. For instance, kids prefer the taste of strawberry-flavored biscuits than real strawberries or they actually like processed flavored yogurt than natural yogurt with fruits - I think that’s a problem. Fourth, I just love the combination of different fruits combined together. Fifth, fruits in its raw state are full of enzymes which are destroyed when heat is applied.

For this post, just change the number of fruits and their quantity. Let your senses guide you which fruit you would like to combine together and how much. You can also do these fall/winter fruits or whatever is in season. It looks like the avocado is not the rock star anymore as I only have two left at that time which are already soft and discolored from prolonged storage in the fridge. So combining different fruits add dimensions and layers of flavors and texture. Here are some of the fruits including the yellow ones (except for the pomelo) that I’ve used for this refreshing salad.

Banana


What else can I say about the banana? It’s an ultimate fast food. Just ask any tennis player. You can read my blog about Bananas: The Ultimate Fast Food at Rouxbe Online Cooking School Blog. Dawn, thanks for tweaking the post.

Dragon Fruit


There so many benefits of dragon fruit but one of them is to balance blood glucose levels and lower them if they are high. They are also great in detoxifying the body as they neutralize heavy metal poisoning by removing them from the body. If you have a sluggish bowl movement and gout, this is one of the fruits you need to eat. They have a neutral flavor with sweet undertones. They also come in yellow skins with white flesh. Choose white for its grainy texture or red for its smoother consistency.

Papaya


Unripe papaya contains papain which promotes healthy digestion. They also help calm inflammation elsewhere in the body such as in the joints. They are full of beta-carotene and vitamin C. I always choose the small variety as they have a more pleasant taste. The bigger ones although sweet, taste sweeter than sugar.

Pineapple


They are rich in the enzyme bromelain which also helps in digestion and reduces inflammation in the joints. They also help in speed up tissue repair and protect bones (from the mineral manganese). It helps relieve arthritis and sore throats, thins mucus and useful for bronchitis, asthma, sinus problems, hypertension and many others.

Pomelo


This is one of my late-father’s favorite fruit. He would buy this whenever sees them. They are great for diabetics (like dad) and for those who want to lose weight because pomelo satisfies hunger and speeds up the break down of proteins and fats (of course without consuming high and empty calorie foods). Just like with any other fruit, it helps against atherosclerosis and regulates blood pressure.

Satsuma Orange


Oranges in general are high in antioxidants. They are good in lowering cholesterol, boosting immunity and reducing inflammation. They are also high in fiber and are great energizers.

I would also like to add some mangoes but they are not yet in season.

Tropical Fruit Salad

Serves 4-6

2 bananas
1 large carabao or apple mango (if available)
¼ pineapple
½ papaya
½ red dragon fruit
½ white dragon fruit
2 satsuma oranges
2 avocados
½ lemon or orange, to taste
½ cup mint leaves

To serve:
Greek yogurt
Raw homemade nut milk
Raw sliced almonds
Raw honey (optional)

To prepare the fruit salad, peel and dice the fruits. Place in a large bowl and with a spoon, toss to combine. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze over the fruits catching any seeds. Next, remove the mints leaves from the steam and finely chop. Add this to bowl and toss to combine. Cover the bowl and chill in the refrigerator for about 1 hour. At the same time, chill the bowls or the glasses.

To serve the fruit salad, spoon the fruits onto individual bowls or glasses. There are two ways you can do this. Either serve them with Greek yogurt with a sprinkle of almonds drizzled with honey or with raw nut milk and some sliced almonds for extra protein and to stabilize your blood sugar.

Dive in and enjoy the natural flavors of fruits.

Check out the round up of entries on "LiveSTRONG day" on the 2nd of October 2009 at Winos and Foodies.