Ripe papaya melts like butter in my mouth. Remembering how much I loved it the first time I had it, straight from the tree at someone's home in Hawai'i. Have loved it since then. Papaya from Hawai'i tastes the best, though if the only papaya I can get is grown elsewhere, I'll take it.
It's those moments, savoring papaya, it seems I could be happy as someone who followed a vegetarian or vegan way of life.
I could be.
Freshly sliced up mango is such a delight for the taste buds. Mango can be very acidic, strongly flavored or mild. Either way, it can replace any sweet treats such as chocolate, cake or cookies any time. It has a slightly tangy, slightly earthy flavor. As long as it's somewhat firm. The mushy ones are over ripe, only good in a smoothie.
Just one of these gems makes it seem that I don't ever want chicken or steak or salmon ever again. It's that good.
Guava is an experience unto itself! It's a bit seedy, grainy, yet the flavor is such a mouth explosion. Natural guava is far less sweet than the juices sold in stores. A lot of sugar is added to it.
The travesty in that is that all you taste is sugar, the flavor & texture is lost in all that high fructose corn syrup.
Give me the actual fruit over all that sugar, any time.
Lilikoi is known by its more common name, passion fruit. How the name went from something beautiful that drips like honey on the tongue to something, so common sounding is a bit sad. Like most tropical fruits, it has lots of seeds that have to be cleansed out to get to the flesh. Like guava, the natural flavor is far less sweet than the commercially sold passion fruit products.
In Hawai'i, there is a bakery known for their Lilikoi or Guava Chiffon cakes. Dee Lite Bakery on Dillingham Blvd, Honolulu, HI.
I remember it well!
They also have other locations, look it up next time you are in the neighborhood.
Their cakes & pastries are loved all over the islands.
Oh, if I go back to visit, I will have to get some.
Lychee is not native to Hawai'i, it's still so delicious to me, fresh off the tree. When I have gone to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet, it was the best place to get fresh lychee that had been freshly picked. Lychee is funny that way. The flavor changes the longer it has been since it was separated from the tree. The fleshy fruit once the rind is peeled has a very mild flavor compared to other tropical fruits. When I ate it, I ate it by itself as the flavors of anything else would overpower the natural lychee experience.
The flavor is citrusy with a hint of watermelon or a cross of strawberry, pear, even a hint of rose petals.
Yes, I must include avocados! Those gold mines of nutrition are so under rated! For many years, even when my money was low, I ate one small avocado most days. Some days, I ate only half, the money was well spent. Though some people prefer to add it to a smoothie or make guacamole, I prefer to just cut it in half, remove the pit, scoop it out of the shell with a spoon. The health benefits of fresh, ripe avocado are so numerous, listing them here would be a blog entry on its own. So, those of you who think it's too cost prohibitive?
Pay the farmer today or pay the doctor & big pharma later.
Though watermelon isn't tropical, it's one of those I can eat every day. It's as healthy, nutritious & beneficial as it is tasty.
Every Saturday, sometimes Sunday, I buy a watermelon, cut it into bitesize chunks, keep it in the fridge. It staves off sugar cravings. What is lesser known about watermelon is that it has a high amount of L- arginine. An appetite suppressant.
An amino acid that helps the body build protein. Watermelon is also very high in antioxidants which ease the effects of human aging.
Vitamins C, A & B6 are also present in high amounts.
The fiber & water is also a really good reason to regularly chow down on a bowl of fresh watermelon.
When I saw that my Doberman puppy, PJ, loves watermelon, I started buying the seedless variety. The seeds can cause intestinal blockage. This can even result in death for a dog. Seedless for us.
Here's a bonus:
To choose a sweet, juicy watermelon. Look at the "navel", the spot where it was picked from the vine. Look for the smallest dot of a navel. It should be heavy, symmetrical, with a few yellow spots that indicate it ripened on the vine so, it will be very sweet, juicy.
People often remark that my skin is very glowy. That I look younger than my chronological age.
Am unsure about all that. What I do know is that I guard my health very closely.
People often comment that I don't have crow's feet around my eyes.
That the skin on my neck is so smooth.
Marionette lines are barely there.
Beauty is fine, I just want to be so healthy that I go to sleep one night, then don't wake up the next day.
What a great way to go if I must.
With so much goodness from the earth that can benefit the human body, bless it with such good nutrient. Yes, please!
Personally, I believe that the time that I lived in Hawai'i affected me in so many ways. Most of them are highly beneficial. Mainly, I learned to love the abundance of fresh fruit, fresh veggies.
I could easily be vegan or vegetarian.
A bit of humor.
