I’m back after a short break from spending a few days in the desert. I just love to go to the desert in the middle of the summer, when it goes down to 85 degrees at night, it’s 100 degrees by 11 am, and it’s hot hot hot in the afternoon. It’s a great thing to do every so often :-).
A couple of months ago, I did a post on National Acai Bowl Day with my first acai bowl. I loved it, although I’m not convinced about the magical health benefits some claim that acai has. While I was in Palm Desert, I went to their new juice bar a few times ~ Fresh Juice Bar, and discovered their bowl on my first visit: the Pitaya Bowl. (They also have acai bowls, but I chose the pitaya version).
Pitaya is another name for dragonfruit. Have you ever had a dragonfruit? They’re great! They are pink and green on the outside (although I just saw a yellow version online), and either deep fuchsia or white on the inside, with thousands of seeds.
I first had dragonfruit in Taiwan several years ago and fell in love with the pretty colors and crisp fresh flavor. Last year I discovered that we have a local grower that sells them at one of our weekly farmer’s markets, and June/July is the time for them!
This pitaya bowl was amazing! Look at the beautiful bright pink fruit puree on the bottom. They blended the pitaya with fresh almond milk, mango, banana, and pineapple to make the most amazing cold puree, and topped it with fresh berries and banana, and crunchy hemp granola. It’s a really incredible combination of textures and flavors ~ I can’t wait to make my own!
Perfect for summer weather! Some or all of the blended fruit was frozen, so it made an amazing frozen puree…
I’ll be back this week with a report on a couple of other items that I purchased while in the desert ~ leave it to me for the only thing that I buy there to be something I can use in food preparation ~ and a new green soup recipe.
Kelli's Vegan Kitchen 