fruit "slaw"

Warning: this fruit "slaw" is not nearly as good looking as it is tasty. You've been warned!

A few weeks ago, we went to a new restaurant in Windsor Locks, CT by the airport. It's a sports bar, for lack of a better description, with more TV's than food options, almost. We had some appetizers to start and ordered some burgers for our main entrees.  The appetizers were really good- we had scallops wrapped in bacon with a maple glaze and calamari fries, which coincidentally, are 100 times better than the usual rings. Our burgers were good, but the best thing on my plate was a jicama & mango "slaw". I'm always nervous about fruit served with dinner, usually because they throw pineapple in things like slaws and salsas. I'm allergic to pineapple (it really is hell) so my first question about a fruit slaw is always what's in it. 

Okay, moving along... 

The fruit slaw was purely that, jicama- a weird fruit that looks(ish) like a potato and tastes(ish) like an apple- and mango. It was really refreshing and super tasty. On my trips to the local produce store, I was in search of jicama to make my own little "slaw" with jicama and apples and maybe some mango. Too bad I couldn't find it. Instead, I grabbed a few fruits [inspired by a mango-tropics 'salad' that I sometimes get at the local fruit marker] and decided to make my own slaw. 

Here's what I did.... 

Ingredients: 

1 medium apple (used a boring red apple but could use any kind you like)

1 mango

4 large strawberries

3 kiwi

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1+ tsp honey

1/8 tsp salt

2 tbsp cilantro

I peeled the apple, mango and kiwi and pitted the strawberries. I cut the apple and kiwi into really thin slices and then cut those into little strips. I did something similar to the strawberries. Turns out, however, that a mango is a weird fruit to cut. There's a pit of sorts in it (I honestly did not know that) and so I ended up with a bunch of weird shaped chunks that I had to then cut into nice slices before I could cut them into little strips. I threw them all into a bowl together and tossed them around. Then, I mixed the juice of a lime and some honey together with a little salt to cut the sweetness of everything. I heated up my honey (in the jar) to make it easier to blend them together. In hindsight, way less of the 'dressing' is needed, hence the 1/2 a lime. I tossed them all together, chopped up a little bit of cilantro and tossed it in. [I appreciate the non-judgement of my not so uniform fruit cuts... I wouldn't have made it on top chef]

Next time, I'll probably let the fruit drain in a strainer for a little bit prior to mixing the dressing in. And, I'll probably leave them a little chunkier than I did this time. These fruits have produced good amount of juice so I may have to strain it a bit before eating it but it's pretty amazingly delicious and makes a great treat when you're in the mood for something sweet! 

Do you have a favorite fruit pairing? 

Happy Fooding!

almond butter & greek yogurt fruit dip

I have a confession. I really like dips. I think they are fun to make, you can make a ton of different kinds for a ton of different things. The possibilities are endless...truthfully. Have you searched "dips" on pinterest? My latest search turned up a red velvet cake batter dip, a Butterfinger fruit dip, a mint chocolate chip cookie dough dip and a pickle wrap dip (what!?) without even scrolling half way down the page. I stumbled upon my latest dip without a specific search. I was poking around in the 'food and drink' category and happened upon a peanut butter greek yogurt fruit dip. Check it out here... It is a fit-sugar recipe so I knew it would be on the healthy side.

When I made my grocery list this weekend, the only item I didn't have that was listed was the vanilla greek yogurt. I had maple syrup (not organic, but since I wasn't sure I would even like the dip, I didn't want to waste money that I don't have) and I had cinnamon on hand (although I kinda really don't like cinnamon but...) and I had peanut butter (not natural but again with the spending unnecessary money thing...). However, while I was playing around in the kitchen today and busting out a bunch of different things, I started thinking about the dip and how I could switch it up with other stuff I had around the house.

Here's what I did.

Ingredients:
6 oz. non fat vanilla greek yogurt (I used one that was on sale 10 for $10... can't pass up a good deal!)
~ 1 tbsp local honey (I really like honey and don't use sugar in my tea anymore. I always have local honey on hand b/c it's tasty and the local kind is supposed to be good for people with allergies)
~ 2 tbsp. homemade almond butter
few dashes of cinnamon
(I used a regular kitchen teaspoon so when I say about a tbsp, I really eyeballed it)

I decided to use almond butter for a few reasons: the first is that I had some on hand that I made myself. I roasted off some raw almonds for 5-7 minutes with a TOUCH of salt, then threw them into the food processor for what felt like FOREVER with a little bit of coconut oil to get them going. If you decide to try making your own almond butter, know going into it that it literally takes a gazillion hours (ok, not quite but for someone who is impatient like me, it seemed that long!) The second reason I decided to use almond butter is because I have a co-worker who I wanted to share my dip with and she has a peanut allergy (although she is in denial about it). Plus, since I am going to bring it to school w/ lunch, it can't hurt to have it peanut free just in case. I have no kids w/ allergies in my classroom (thank god b/c they eat peanut butter like it's going out of style) but it never hurts to be safe!

Anyway...

I took the yogurt, honey and almond butter and stuck it in my magic bullet. In hindsight, I probably should have used the food processor but it was already being used for something else (I cooked/prepared/made about 15 different things today so I used a lot of my gadgets). So I threw it all in there and let it go, stopping to open it up and scrape everything off the sides a few times. When I was happy that everything was mixed together, I threw in a few dashes of cinnamon, screwed the top back on and gave it a few shakes to incorporate the cinnamon. I poured it in one of my cute mini mason jars (I'm a little addicted to them) and stuck it in the fridge. I really liked the almond flavor it has and since I'm not HUGE on peanut butter, I think it was the right choice. I'm going to pair it with some apple slices and maybe even some banana.

The true test will be to give my students a little bit and see what they think. Anything I think they will hate, they usually love (quinoa chips were a huge hit the week before vacation), but then again, boys will usually eat anything... unless it's healthy...

Have you tried any new dips lately?

Happy Fooding!