I know I’ve extolled the virtues of being an unprejudiced eater, but even I have my aversions. One of which was unknown to me until last week.
In my last batch of produce from the co-op, I received 3 persimmons. If you are as inexperienced with produce as I am, you may be asking yourself, “What the hell is a persimmon?” I thought they were some kind of weird tomato until I read the label.
A persimmon is a little, round fruit usually orange or reddish in color. According to Wikipedia it was originally harvested in eastern Asia. The flavor reminds me of an extremely sweet yam, and the texture is slightly softer than a pear. I ate one raw and the saccharine flavor was too intense. The meat of the persimmon also had fibers (or something) in it, like when you eat too close to the core of an apple or pear, only it was in the entire fruit. I didn’t like it at all.
David’s sister-in-law told me that she used to feed them to her sugar glider, and after that I associated them with squirrel food. This wasn’t helping.
Fortunately, I really hate letting produce go bad. So I asked Sylvia wtf to do with these little overly-sweet demon balls, and she led me to this recipe.
Whaaaaat?! Dude. This stuff was good. Like, real good. Like make-you-say-whoa good.
And it was so easy to make! Sometimes all you need to do is give food a new spin to really enjoy it. I loved the way the salt and thyme complimented the sweetness of the persimmon, and sauteeing it until it was browned did wonders for the texture. I also added parmesan cheese. T’was excellent. I will rejoice the next time I receive persimmons in my share!
And if you’re curious, Day 2 of the no (added) sugar challenge went swimmingly for me. Surprisingly, I’m not craving sweets at all. David, on the other hand, texted me saying he wanted a cookie. As much as I’d like to tease him for losing the bet, I actually would like it if he were successful. Stay tuned to see what happens.
I feel compelled to mention this because this place is supposed to be a fitness blog: I have not been to the gym YET this week, so I am sleeping in my workout clothes and setting my alarm for 6 a.m. The chances of me making it to the gym are much greater when I’m already dressed to workout.
Yum. Parmesan cheese makes everything better.
How do you like being part of the co-op? I’m in Miami too and I’ve been thinking about joining, but I’m afraid I’ll end up with weird fruits/veggies I’ll never eat.
I like it, and so far the produce hasn’t been anything too weird. Granted I’ve gotten a few things that I wasn’t too crazy about, but I’ve been able to find a way to cook them to my liking. The co-op is good if you want to try new things and eat a lot of fruits and veggies. But it might not be a good idea if you like having more control over your meals (which is something I struggle with.)
Oh shit, awesome! I was kinda hoping you’d try that one, I was curious about a savory persimmon recipe. Poor David, working near the bakery. A true exercise of will-power…
It was really, really good. And David has had to resort to eating plain salad with salt…lol.