Local? Organic? February? (and a guacamole recipe)

My rule of thumb is local and organic always first, local second, organic third, and, well, that leaves everything else. I try to eat seasonally and I don't buy asparagus in November. I have admitted to buying blueberries in January but I find the first three months of the year a hard time to survive on seasonal fruits and veggies.

This is my time of year to indulge in tropical fruits. They seem to be in season at this time of year but maybe it's just my deep desire for these fruits instead of floury apples and yet another type of orange that makes me think they are in season. An environmental sin of the highest degree but as I am a pretty strict environmentalist, I allow myself this digression. I can always go to Vegan Church and ask for forgiveness at confessional if it weighs too heavily on my mind.

At Choices this weekend, I came across a fruit I had never seen before. I do not claim to have seen all the fruits in the world but it is rare to find a fruit on the Canadian market that I haven't tried. This new fruit is part of the citron family and is called Buddha's Fingers because it looks like a gnarled hand with long fingers (did Buddha have these types of hands?!) The fruit grows closed hanging from branches and the fingers spread when the fruit is ready to be picked. I was so excited to see something new! I paid the exorbitant price (you don't want to know) and tried a slice of a finger when I got home. Internet sites say that these fruits are mostly used to scent rooms as they are very fragrant but they can also be eaten raw or used in recipes calling for lemon peel. That's about all you could use them for as they are only peel and pith - no fruit inside at all. I wonder where the seeds are. The taste is bitter and lemony - exactly what you would expect of lemon peel and pith. Mum will be making a couple jars of Buddha's Fingers and orange marmalade. I hope Buddha approves!

Another favourite fruit that Pap used to go looking for in Chinatown in May is mangosteen. I don't know how anyone ever decided to eat one of these because it is a very hard maroon tennis ball that requires a serrated knife to cut through. You only cut through about 1cm of the shell all the way around and then you peel away half of the shell to reveal a beautiful white fruit flower inside. The number of segments on the "flower" on the bottom of the shell of the fruit indicates how many segments there are in the fruit. Make sure there are no yellow spots on the shell or else the fruit will have sulphur deposits and it is then totally inedible. Quite a disappointment when they are expensive. I always buy just two in the hopes that at least one will be good. Success this time as both were great! The biggest segment has a pit in it but the rest should be just blissful fruit! When we were in China we would buy bags of these for 15 cents. None was ever sulphury either.

So my fruits of January are pineapple, mangosteen (pictured cut open), rambutan (not pictured here but maybe I'll find them to share with you), avocado, kiwi, papaya (pawpaw), and longan. These are also an Asian fruit that have a thin tan shell that pops open when you squeeze the fruit fairly hard. There is a comparatively large stone inside so don't just bite down. These are very refreshing fruits and are Corey's favourite. The Buddha's Hand is just in there because it's cool. You can see that it's just amass of white pith inside. I won't buy another one until I can get bags of them for 15 cents to scent my rooms in China!

And because I like to add a recipe, here is my guacamole recipe. We used to eat this on top of well salted steaks off the bbq when I was growing up. Now I like it with tortilla chips or veggies.

vO Guacamole

Mash together:
1 large ripe avocado
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tbsp sambal oelek (don't use anything else unless it's sriracha which will do in a pinch)
1 chopped green onion (yes, I do add this as it is a vital part of the flavour)
salt and pepper
 
I'd love some feedback if you have time... are there recipes you'd like me to share? More of a certain type of recipe? Vegan lifestyle info? How to be a healthy vegan?  Let me know! I've learned quickly that being vegan is easy and yummy. I'd love to share what you want to know.