Dragon Fruit

Continuing in my unusual tropical fruit theme, today I am trying the Dragon Fruit.  Purchased at the South Padre Island Farmer's Market on Sunday from Rivers End Nursery and Farm, it is an unusual looking fruit - mine is HOT PINK on the outside.  I'm guessing it gets it names from the "scale-like" outer skin of the fruit (the part you don't eat I presume?).  The inside is white with tiny black seeds.  It is succulent and sweet.  I halved and then quartered the fairly large piece of fruit (it's bigger than an average apple) and it was very easy to cut.  I scooped the flesh out of one of the quarters to get a sample of the flavor.  The seeds are lightly crunchy and the flesh, or meat of the fruit, is sort of similar to a cantaloupe or honeydew melon...just interspersed with crunchiness from the seeds.  Unlike raspberries or black berries, though, I didn't end up with the irritating feel of seeds in my teeth.  They are a soft crunch :-)

So, wanting to know more about Dragon Fruit, I Googled it and found a nice series on it at About.com.  I'm clipping a small portion from their site - you can link here if you want to know more about it.

"Dragon fruit is a beautiful fruit grown in Southeast Asia, Mexico, Central and South America, and Israel. The plant is actually a type of cactus, and the fruit comes in 3 colors: 2 have pink skin, but with different colored flesh (one white, the other red), while another type is yellow with white flesh. Dragon fruit is low in calories and offers numerous nutrients, including Vitamin C, phosphorus, calcium, plus fiber and antioxidants."

So, besides being tasty, pretty to look at, and an unusual addition to add to your fruit salad - it is good for you and low in calories...helping me meet my goal for this week!!!

I also found a web site that talks in great detail about the health benefits of Dragon Fruit.  I can't attest to the validity of their information, but it sure sounds like this is a fruit we all might want to add to our repertoire of "pretty food that does good things".  I'm certainly hoping to get some more next week when I'm at the Farmer's Market again!

I think I'm going to go finish that Dragon Fruit now - it was delicious - and it is calling my name!!!