Pure Deliciousness - Fresh Fruits & Veggies

Moving to Belize introduced us to the wonderful world of local and farm-fresh fruits and vegetables. Prior to this experience, we relied on the grocery store to supply our fruits and vegetables and it is no wonder so much went to waste. First of all, we were not as conscientious about every dollar we spent and secondly, we would just buy sale items and too many of them and not be able to finish them before they went bad. Not to mention the fact we did not really appreciate how delicious it is to have fresh fruit throughout the day and we did not eat as extensive a menu based on fresh vegetables.

I am so thankful for the shift! While Anthony’s parents visited, they repeatedly remarked on the strong and delicious flavor of our fruit and vegetables. Since much of what they are used to sits in a warehouse for the better part of its life, they are not accustomed to the fabulousness of fresh fruits and vegetables. While it is difficult to spend 8 months anticipating the 4 months of mango season, it is well worth it to enjoy fresh ripe mangoes straight from the tree.

Part of our limited diet before was due to laziness – we could have been more intentional and only shopped at farmer’s markets for fresh in-season local fruits and vegetables, but we didn’t. That will certainly change. Will we buy a mango from time to time? I’m sure we will, but we will also certainly notice immediately its lack of flavor and intensity.

The other great change has been to adopt a vegetarian diet at home. By not cooking meat or poultry, we have been forced to experiment and the past three years have provided us with a whole new array of menu items and meal options. It’s amazing how little we varied our diet when we ate poultry. Neither of us has eaten beef or pork for several years, but we did eat plenty of chicken and turkey. For two years, I greatly missed my turkey burgers, and then the first night of our first trip home last June when I had one, it just wasn’t that amazing. In fact, I have developed such a tasty black bean burger that I prefer that anytime.

Okay back to the delicious goodness of fresh eating and our amazing fruits and veggies – we have been adding to the types we buy and trying even more recipes. It’s so much fun and I can’t even imagine going back to eating poultry, too. I don’t miss it, and when either of us ate some during the holidays it made us sick every time! Truth is, I am pretty likely to stick to the vegetarian diet, not sure about Anthony, but I have watched and read too many exposés on mistreatment and genetic modifications that just make it all unappealing and unappetizing. But, I know there are those old-fashioned farmers whose chickens will have a good life and maybe once my stomach readjusts to American food I can consider it once in a while… haven’t made a commitment yet, but I’m leaning toward 100% vegetarian. Anywho…

Check out some of our favorite, vibrant fresh fruits and veggies.

So, truth is the apples are not from Belize, but they are so vivid in this picture. These came from my favorite market vendor in Orange Walk, he's the only one with these delicious gala apples (I think he gets them from Mexico...)

We love the banana family - here we have from top to bottom: bananas, plantains (which we only just starting cooking by baking them and are now addicted to baked and mashed plantain - why did we not do this sooner?), and apple bananas (these little gems have a sweet apple-ish, strawberry-ish flavor - delightful!) Oh, and each of these bunches is only $1

Here we have some chocho (official name: chayote), zucchini, tomatoes, and lime (which came from the tree in our backyard)

This is about $30 worth of produce picked up at one of our favorite markets (the one in San Ignacio). It provided us with a great set of meals for the week. The giant leafy vegetable is calaloo (reminds me a bit of kale, but it is different; either way, it's delicious and we used it for some amazing quesadillas). There's also a star fruit and a pitaya in there, two other favorite fruits and you can see some okra in the front left and cassava next to it.

Kinep is a delightful little fruit that is only in season for a short time around June and July and which has a burst of sourness to it, but at the same time is a sweet treat

Cassava - a root that is nice when boiled (we had it first in Boil Up with Miss Udeen and that's still my favorite Belizean meal)

Pitaya - this fruit is so juicy and has the consistency of kiwi (kind of a similar flavor, too, but different enough to be unique)

Fun with Fruit (don't you think Pitaya makes a good bug-eye or alien eye look?)