I have been on a fruit kick lately and love the purity a piece of fruit brings to the body. Nature’s goodness at its finest. Most grocery stores have a section of exotic fruits and being the foodie that I am I always venture to the section. I always make it a point to try a new food when given the opportunity and I encourage you to do the same. This is a mantra I have with my family and especially my daughters.
I remember the first time I tried rambutan, I was in Thailand with my nephew en route to visit my niece who was living in Udon Thani. My nephew and I looked at this spiky red almost golf ball shaped thing and immediately thought what the heck is this. The Thai lady at the market told us in beautifully broken English that it was a sweet fruit and then she showed us how to cut it open and I saw this white translucent ball and took my first bite, this was almost eight years ago. I have never been the same since- I fell in love with this thing called rambutan, this white translucent ball looked and almost tasted like a grape but so much sweeter and better that I can’t put into words. You have to try one and you can buy them when they are a vibrant red color and most local grocery stores have them in a dark red color and are perfectly fine. To open them you can use your hands to thrust open the ball, or simply get a knife and gently slice the outer spiky fleshy skin until you get the ball out. Oh, the love of this exotic fruit- back to the salad. I made this salad for my daughters as a mid-morning snack. I didn’t want to just give them the standard apples, bananas, or oranges so I mixed up the variety and combined mango, blueberry, rambutan, goji berries, and cacao nibs to make this salad. When I plated it for Maddie and Lexie I thought it was so beautiful and it immediately brought back memories of my trip to Thailand and the tropical flowers I saw. So, I went outside to my backyard and cut one of my roses to help make this dish as close to a Thai fruit salad as I could. After I was done I simply gave it to Maddie and Lexie and said, babies today we are having a little bit of Thailand here with us.
Buen Provecho!
Rambutan, Mango, Cacao Nib, Berry Salad
Printable Version
Yield: Serves 2 Total Time: 5-10 minutes
Ingredients:
-2 Mangos
-1 Cup of Blueberries
-4 Rambutans
-1/2 Cup of Goji Berries
-1/2 Cup of Cacao Nibs
-1/4 Cup of Star Anise
Equipment Needed:
-Cutting Board
-Knife
-Peeler
-Measuring Cup
-Serving Dishes
Prep & Directions:
-Get your mangos and peeler and peel the skin of the mango
-Then slice your mangos into squares or small pieces and set aside
-Get a cup of blueberries and rinse them and set aside
-Get 4 rambutans, a knife, and cutting board and gently cut the spikey flesh and peel
the rambutan open with your hands and get the ball out
-Then get your serving dish and put ½ a cup of blueberries, 1 cup of mangos, ¼ cup of
goji berries, ¼ cup of cacao nibs, 2 rambutans, and divide the star anise between the serving dishes and serve
*****Feel free to add more of the ingredients to suit your taste buds*****