Gotta Try It Tuesday: Kiwano

Ever go to the grocery store and see a new fruit or vegetable and say "What is that?" "I wonder how that tastes?" "What do I do with it?". I do all the time. I love trying new foods and when I see something I have never tried before I'm completely drawn to buying it. That's why I want to bring to you Gotta Try It Tuesday. I'll give you my honest first impressions and simple recipes.

That brings us to my first Gotta Try the Kiwano or Horned Melon. Honestly, I've seen this beautiful fruit a few times now and could not resist the urge to give it a try. The first one I bought I had no idea what to do with it, but that bright orange color and small little spikes were too irresistible. So there I was at home with no idea how to cut it, eat it or even what earthly taste this little spiked melon may have. So let's start off with how to choose one. From my little research and multiple taste testing, the darker orange the riper it is. It will be soft in nature, this is normal. You will see why once you cut it open. Speaking of, how in the world should you cut it? The best way I found was to cut it longitudinally. The inside will be quite the little shocker. It's dark green!! The meat inside is basically the encasing of the seeds, which are quite edible. I would then scoop out the edges much like a grapefruit. Once you get started you will see the various pockets the seeds are held in. After working around the edges the middle pocket is the hardest. I just squeezed out the rest of the meat like I'd squeeze a lemon. It fairly easy and once you get going, you get the feel for it. Now the big question, TASTE! I read that it has a cucumber, banana taste. I guess I can see that, but I would describe it more of a sweeter kiwi fruit taste. I would only compare it to a not yet ripe banana if I were to compare it to a banana at all. I really enjoyed the taste, but had no idea what to do with it, so I basically just added it to my green smoothie for the day. After much thought I came up with two possible uses for the Kiwano melon. To read about the many health benefits of the Kiwano plant click here.  

Ingredients:

- 1 Kiwano melon

- 1 Lime

- 6 tbsp. Apple cider vinegar

- 3 tsp. Honey

- Salt & pepper 

Directions:

- Remove meat from kiwano melon. 

- Add ACV, honey and juice from lemon. If honey is raw, it will need to be in liquid form.

- Place in food processor or individual blender. 

- Add salt & pepper for taste!

Served over greens, mango, tomato, red onion & avocado + hemp seeds on top

Ingredients:

- 1 Kiwano melon

- 1 Orange bell pepper

- 1 small Tomato

- 1 small Onion

- 1/2 Mango

- 1 Lime

- 1/4 tsp. Chili powder

- 1/4 tsp. Cayenne pepper

- 1/2 tsp. Garlic powder

Direction

- Cut Kiwano horizontally and scoop out center. Save outsides for later use.

- Place all ingredients in a food processor until desired texture is reached.

- For decoration serve salsa in left over, hollowed-out melon shells. 

Serve with raw corn chips*

I believe the kiwano melon is something "You Gotta Try" at least once. Let me know if you have ever tried it and how you eat it!

*recipe for raw corn chips coming soon!