Jackfruit and Sweet Lemon

Today we went to a local grocery store that is more like an international food store called Compare Foods. As fast as they are spreading, you probably have one in your area. Anywhoo, the kids and I have been doing mono-dieting when money is short or when we feel like it. They funny thing is that they request it. Mari's fruit of choice is cantaloupe while David's is mango. Today we went to Compare Foods because I knew they would have a wider variety. They did NOT disappoint. The first thing we tried was something called Sweet Lemon.

Sweet Lemon looks like a yellow orange with a little green tinge. When you cut it open it is an extremely pale yellow, almost white. The peel is very thin and easy to pull off and the flesh pulls away from the filmy thin skin on the inside much like a grapefruit does. It taste clean, almost watery with a very slight sweet taste. I can imagine that this would be DELISH on a hot summer day and it also would travel and keep well since it is in the citrus family.

I think the first time I heard about Jackfruit was from an vegan-master blogging-guru-down-to-earth-sistah by the name of Evelyn. Today we tried it for ourselves. First of all this thing is the size and weight of a watermelon, but it has this very prickly skin. To get to the flesh, I took a large knife and cut it like I would a watermelon. You will meet with some resistance in the middle as it does have a type of firm/soft core. Once you cut it into pieces that you can work with you will find something that looks like pods throughout the fruit. This is what you want to eat. They are hollow because the seed is in it. The seeds are surrounded by a stringy flesh. They part you eat has a light sweet taste. It's not a juicy fruit. It has a fleshy rubbery feel to it, but it isn't unpleasant at all. It does take a little work to eat, so it's not something to eat when you are in a rush. It seems like something that would be good to take on a picnic. I really enjoyed it and will be going for another slice when I'm done blogging.

Whole Jackfruit

Sliced in half.

Flesh & fruit pods

This is the part you eat, but be careful of the seed. If you squeeze it, you can feel where it is inside. 

Inside of the fruit pod. 

I'm glad that we enjoyed the fruit that we tried today, but the truth of it is that you should always be willing to give new fruits and veggies a try. Sometimes you will love what you try and sometimes you will hate it. Sometimes you will find that you have to try it again at a later date to give it another shot. Either way variety is indeed the spice of life, so spice up your life and your plate with new foods. Try something new at least once a month and be sure to involve the children. If you have picky eaters make it an event and involve them in the process. Let them pic the new fruit/veggie and help prepare it. Eat and enjoy!!!