Tropical Fruit

Inspiration for creating a healthy, beautiful tropical fruit platter to enjoy alone or with chia seed pudding, yogurt, or granola. 

Aloha! We spent last week on the magical island of Kauai. While there were so many things I loved about the island, and I'll share the details of our trip later, one of my favorite things was waking up early and enjoying a papaya with lime out on the lush green grass in front of our condo. The air was always warm and thick, even at 5:30 am. I could hear the waves crashing and birds chirping, but everything else was quiet while the kids were still sleeping. It was completely delicious peace. 

Some of the world's best tropical fruit grows in Hawaii, and I couldn't wait to pick some up at the Poipu farmers market. I was familiar with most of the fruit, but there were a few new to me fruits as well. I just had to share this gorgeous tropical fruit with you and share some tips for putting together your own tropical fruit salad platter and other ways to enjoy it! I don't expect you will be able to find all of this unless you live in a tropical area, but I hope you enjoy the eye candy and get a little aloha fruit inspiration. 

One of the reasons I prefer staying in a rental home rather than a hotel is being able to cook my own fresh, nourishing food. It's usually healthier and much less expensive. The first morning at the condo I put together this simple tropical fruit platter to go with breakfast. Nature is so beautiful. I couldn't resist taking pictures of this colorful plate. I would love to recreate this tropical fruit bowl for a fruit and granola parfait bar at a summer brunch. 

Here's what we found at the Poipu farmers market and local grocery store in Princeville: 

• Papaya.  Papaya is wonderful for your health. They are high in vitamin C and contain enzymes that help with digestion and reducing bloating. There are different varieties, shapes, and colors. Most are grown in Hawaii, and unfortunately around 75% of those are GMO papayas. Some of the papayas I've seen in my local grocery store have little non-GMO stickers. GMO papayas are not legal in the EU, but are in the US and Canada. source Papaya are sweet and soft inside and taste best with a squeeze of lime.
• Mango
• Lychee
• Passion Fruit 
• Pineapple 
• Coconut 
• Soursop 

What's a soursop? This is a soursop! At first I thought it might be jackfruit, but it's not. The farmer told me that soursop has great health benefits including cancer fighting properties. The flesh is white and firm, and tastes sweet and mild, and a bit like passion fruit. Have you ever seen soursop? I am going to be on the lookout for it here! 

Let's talk dressing. Some people are big on "dressing" fruit and fruit salads. In the south, creamy poppy seed dressings are popular. Personally, I am team naked when it comes to fruit. Fruit is perfect on it's own, and should get to shine. Unless the fruit is not at it's sweetest, in which case a little drizzle of honey mixed with citrus juice is enough. At the suggestion of the kind farmer at the market on Kauai, we ate the papaya with a little passion fruit on top. Papaya is so creamy sweet that a little tartness is just what it needs. For very sweet fruits go with a squeeze of lime, for sour fruit, try a squeeze of orange. A little mint infused simple syrup can also be great on fruit that needs it, but these tropical fruits certainly don't. 

I love making a big beautiful platter of tropical fruit. It's wonderful alone, or on top of yogurt or chia pudding, sprinkled with tropical granola. Try a batch of my favorite Tropical Granola in my cookbook. It's amaaaaazing!

Tropical Fruit Platter

By Yummy Mummy Kitchen
Published 06/30/2016

How to make a beautiful tropical fruit platter. The fruits listed below are suggestions, don't worry if you can't find them all.

Ingredients

• 1 papaya
• 2 mangoes
• 1 small pineapple
• 2 passion fruit, halved (the wrinklier the better!)
• 5 lychee
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• fresh or toasted coconut meat
• tropical granola for serving (optional)
• chia seed pudding or yogurt for serving (optional)

Instructions

1. Cut papaya in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds with a spoon. Cut papaya halves again lengthwise so you have four pieces. Cut mango lengthwise around each side of the seed in the middle so you have two large pieces. Cut mango flesh to the skin without piercing skin, in 1/2" lines vertically, then horizontally to make cubes. Press the skin side of the mango forward to pop out. Cut peel and cut pineapple.
2. Arrange fruit on a plate or platter. Spoon some passion fruit seeds over the papaya or squeeze some lime juice over.
3. Serve fruit with granola, chia pudding, and/or yogurt.

Yield: Serves 4-6
Prep Time: 10 mins.

Total time: 10 mins.
Tags: breakfast, brunch, fruit, tropical, hawaii, chia pudding, granola