Healthy foods to get to know: breadfruit, carambola, celeriac, daikon and kohlrabi
If grocery shopping is just another chore you check off on your to-do list every week, you probably cruise the aisles with blinders on, picking up the same things you've been buying for months, if not years. But it's time to turn that "auto pilot" off because you're missing out on interesting options in the produce department. Widen your horizons and fill your cart with fruits and veggies you've never considered before. Here are a few ideas.
Although these big, green, bumpy spheres are fruits, they're usually prepared like a vegetable, baked, boiled or grilled, similar to squash. Breadfruit's sweet, cream-coloured flesh has a bland flavour and is available canned, which could be a good option since the fruit can measure up to 10 inches in diameter and weigh close to 10 pounds.
2. Carambola
This juicy, fragrant fruit is more commonly called a star fruit because it's shaped like a star, with five defined ribs along its length. With yellow skin and flesh, carambola's flavour can range from sweet (if the ribs are broad) to tart (if the ribs are narrow). While slices of carambola are commonly used in restaurants as a garnish on the side of a salad or dessert, you can actually eat it just as you'd eat an apple.
3. Celeriac
You may have avoided this particular vegetable, because it's not the most attractive one in the bunch. The ugly brown sphere covered in knobby bits is actually the root of a variety of celery and makes a delicious addition to salads, when raw, or soups and stews, when cooked. It tastes like a combination of strong celery and parsley flavours and it keeps in the fridge for seven to 10 days when stored in a plastic bag. The green leaves attached to the root are inedible so don't eat 'em, even if they are the best-looking parts.
4. Daikon
This particular variety of radish, which has a sweet flavour, takes its name from two Japanese words that translate to mean "large root." While the flesh of a ripe daikon is white and juicy, its skin colour can vary from white, yellow, green or black. Choose firm, unwrinkled daikons to use raw in salads or enjoy them, cooked, in a stir-fry.
5. Kohlrabi
Found in both green and purple varieties, these strange-looking bulbous veggies have several stems growing up from them, which explains why their appearance is often compared to the satellite Sputnik. Popular in Indian cuisine and similar to cabbage or cauliflower, they can be used raw or cooked and taste much like broccoli stems. When shopping for kohlrabi, remember that the smaller they are, the more tender and sweeter they will be.
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This juicy, fragrant fruit is more commonly called a star fruit because it's shaped like a star, with five defined ribs along its length. With yellow skin and flesh, carambola's flavour can range from sweet (if the ribs are broad) to tart (if the ribs are narrow). While slices of carambola are commonly used in restaurants as a garnish on the side of a salad or dessert, you can actually eat it just as you'd eat an apple.
3. Celeriac
You may have avoided this particular vegetable, because it's not the most attractive one in the bunch. The ugly brown sphere covered in knobby bits is actually the root of a variety of celery and makes a delicious addition to salads, when raw, or soups and stews, when cooked. It tastes like a combination of strong celery and parsley flavours and it keeps in the fridge for seven to 10 days when stored in a plastic bag. The green leaves attached to the root are inedible so don't eat 'em, even if they are the best-looking parts.
4. Daikon
This particular variety of radish, which has a sweet flavour, takes its name from two Japanese words that translate to mean "large root." While the flesh of a ripe daikon is white and juicy, its skin colour can vary from white, yellow, green or black. Choose firm, unwrinkled daikons to use raw in salads or enjoy them, cooked, in a stir-fry.
5. Kohlrabi
Found in both green and purple varieties, these strange-looking bulbous veggies have several stems growing up from them, which explains why their appearance is often compared to the satellite Sputnik. Popular in Indian cuisine and similar to cabbage or cauliflower, they can be used raw or cooked and taste much like broccoli stems. When shopping for kohlrabi, remember that the smaller they are, the more tender and sweeter they will be.
Click to continue for 5 more unknown fruits and veggies you should try...
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