Food, Recipe and Activity of the Week - January 6, 2008
This week's features include:
Food - Star fruit
Recipe - Broiled star fruit with vanilla frozen yogurt
Activity - Shoveling snow
History
Star fruit or carambola originated in Sri Lanka and the Moluccas and has been cultivated in Southeast Asia and Malaysia for several hundred years. Today in the US this tropical fruit thrives in the warm environments of Florida and Hawaii.
Facts
Star fruit has a variety of names including: bilimbi, belimbing, Chinese star fruit, five-angled fruit, and the star apple. Star fruit seems appropriate based on the fact that when cut across the middle this tropical fruit looks like a five-pointed star. It has a waxy, golden yellow to green color skin and taste like a combination of fruits including plums, pineapples, and lemons.
Two varieties of star fruit can be found in the supermarket, tart and sweet. While the tastes between the two varieties are hardly distinguishable, the sweet variety tends to have thicker, fleshier ribs. Star fruit is readily available July through February.
When selecting star fruits, choose those with firm, shiny skin that are evenly colored. Do not purchase fruits with brown, shriveled ribs. At home, non-ripe star fruit should be turned often until yellow in color with light brown ribs showing they are ripe. Ripe star fruits can be stored at room temperature for two to three days unwashed, and refrigerated in a plastic bag for up to one week. Star fruits bruise easily, so be careful when handling.
As for nutrition, star fruits are an excellent source of vitamin C. They are also low in fat and naturally sodium and cholesterol free.
Star fruits do not need to be peeled or seeded so are great to eat out of hand! Just wash and enjoy. They are also great to add to fruit salads, garnish chicken, pork or fish dishes, or to add to fruit smoothies.
Nutrition Information (per serving - 1 star fruit): 40 calories, 0 g fat, 10 g carbohydrate, 1 g protein, 3 g dietary fiber
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:
- 4 medium size star fruit, trimmed and sliced into stars (about 8 from each)
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp light brown sugar
- 2 cups sugar free, fat free vanilla frozen yogurt
Instructions:
- Place broiler rack 6 inches from source of heat.
- Preheat broiler.
- Place star fruit slices on a baking sheet (single layer).
- Brush with lemon juice and sprinkle with brown sugar.
- Broil until sugar bubbles and begins to darken (about 2-3 minutes)
- Scoop frozen yogurt into 4 dessert dishes and top with star fruit slices.
- Serve immediately.
Nutrition Information: 150 calories, 1 gram fat, 30 grams carbohydrate, 3 grams fiber, 5 grams protein, 80 milligrams sodium, 5 milligrams cholesterol
Courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. For more recipes and access to the recipe’s full nutritional profile, visit www.cdc.gov.
It is January which means unpredictable weather mixed with snowstorms for many of us. Recent snowstorm? Need to clear the driveway or sidewalk? What an opportunity to get free physical activity and manually shovel the snow! Bring out the whole family, or at least the children to shovel the driveway and sidewalk. A 150 lb. person will burn approximately 200 calories while shoveling snow for 30 minutes. CAUTION: Anyone at risk for or with a history of cardiovascular disease should have medical clearance before shoveling snow. For additional tips on shoveling snow visit the North Dakota State University Extension website at http://www.ext.nodak.edu/snow.htm
If the snow blower is used to clear the driveway and sidewalk, grab the shovel and build a snow castle instead. Another option is to make a snow lamp by making a circle of snowballs and then stacking snowballs on top of each other making the hole smaller. Finally at the end, put a candle inside and light at night; it glows beautifully.