While kale is anything but new, it’s not exactly the most popular green to populate a plate. You may have been served a leaf or two as a garnish at your favourite restaurant, but that doesn’t do this versatile leafy green justice. Kale may look frilly, but these colourful leaves are hardy stuff. Tough enough…
Strawberry Papaya – Fruit of the Angels
Reportedly declared, “the fruit of the angels” by Christopher Columbus, papayas, like explorers, have made their way from Central America and the Indias to Hawaii, Mexico and Florida. I never much liked this fruit, preferring a deliciously sweet mango over the blandness of papaya. Then I encountered the strawberry papaya. Sweeter and less acidic than…
Honk If You Love Gooseberries
Thanks to my Grade Six ‘scary berry’ training, which taught me to never trust a wild berry, not once have I strayed from the safety of the familiar strawberry, blueberry, blackberry or raspberry bush. Despite tempting, vibrant-coloured berries bursting from shrubs, with branches reaching over fences as though they were beckoning, ‘pick me, pick me’,…
Belgian Endive – A Mistake Worth Making
What do potato chips, Popsicles and chocolate chip cookies have in common with a leafy vegetable from the chicory family? They were all discovered by accident. The difference is, Belgian endive is a much healthier choice than the other three. Whether you pronounce it, EN-dive or on-DEEV, Belgian endive was one of history’s better…
Prickly Pear – From Desert to Dessert
While the thought of eating a cactus plant sounds more perilous than pleasurable, the prickly pear cactus is one plant that provides a triple whammy of healthy edible fruit, vegetable and flower. Grown widely in the United States, Mexico and South America, the prickly pear cactus also proliferates in the Mediterranean and some areas of…
