Dragon Fruit – Farmers Market Find

It’s no secret that I love to try local food while traveling especially fresh fruits and veggies. So when we stopped at the POM Farmers Market in Oahu Hawaii over the weekend, I spotted a big box of unusual looking dragon fruit that were new to our family that we just had to try.

I learned so much about dragon fruit just from talking to the farmer. First, he showed us how to gently press on the skin of the fruit to determine when it’s ripe and explained that is should feel similar to a ripe kiwi fruit when ready to eat. I also learned that dragon fruit are actually a member of the cactus family…very interesting. Rather than one large seed in the center of the fruit, dragon fruit are loaded with small edible black seeds similar to the edible black seeds in the center of a kiwi fruit. We also learned the simple instructions on of how to cut a dragon fruit and eat it.

To prepare a dragon fruit first, cut the fruit in half.

Look at that gorgeous vibrant pink shell! The edible portion is the white part with black crunchy seeds. To remove the fruit from the shell, take a spoon and gently guide it between the shell and edible fruit.

The fruit easily slides out of the shell. You can then dice it into bite size pieces. Give it a taste…it’s sweet and crunchy (thanks to the edible seeds).

As I do with a lot of fruits, I like to use the inedible shell for a serving bowl. I think it makes for a beautiful presentation and reduces the number of dishes that need to be cleaned…always a bonus! Gorgeous, healthy, and delicious! My husband thought we should throw some in our homemade smoothies and they would be a great addition to fruit salad. The dragon fruit is definitely another fun farmer’s market food find that I’m so glad we decided to try.