Saturday, August 27, 2011

Fruit of the Month: Pineapple

I figured it was about time to do another fruit of the month, since it's been, well, months! The last one I did was the humble avocado. This month  I shall showcase the pineapple! Who doesn't love pineapple?
I noticed the other day that my little pineapple that I took from work had turned yellow all of a sudden! So I decided to cut it off and eat it that afternoon.
Here is a size comparison: a normal mug next to it, and a gigantic pineapple we had bought the same day we went strawberry picking!
We enjoyed it simply stuck on toothpicks with some of the straberry haul. It was quite sweet, if a bit pale.
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A pineapple is actually a bromeliad, taking around 2-3 years to flower and fruit from planting. To grow a pineapple all you have to do is twist off the top and whack in the ground. Mine grew quite happily in a tiny 200mm pot.
I'm sure I took a picture of the flowers but I can't find it! Oh well, this will have to do.

1 cup of raw pineapple provides 2% RDI of vitamin A and Calcium, 131% of vitamin C and 3% iron (source).

We are still going through the giant pineapple from the strawberry farm, and I've been enjoying it at work in a fruit salad with orange, strawberries and kiwifruit. It's my sister's favourite fruit and she's been known to eat a whole one in a day! It hurts my mouth after a little bit so I haven't quite managed that yet :)

There are heaps of things you can do with pineapples. I prefer them as is, but you can always stick it on pizzas, on a kebab stick, in cakes, ice creams, salads, etc. Any ideas?

1 comment:

Theresa said...

Ooh, exciting! Although I feel smug whenever I eat anything we've grown, my haughtiness increases substantially about pineapples. Even though they are seriously easy to grow, they seem like a bigger deal.

Our pineapple plant is up to its third fruit, and is currently about the same size as your bottom photo. But they always (both times) seem to tip over before they turn yellow and break the stalk.

Pineapple fried rice? Pineapple & tofu teriyaki stir fry?