Fun fruits and veg

[DanM]

My daughter's preschool asks parents to bring in fresh fruits or veg to be served as snacks. Most parents bring apples, bananas, baby carrots, oranges, and other common items. I have been bringing more exotic and fun fruits and veg like medjool dates, Persian cukes, Romanesco cauliflower, dragon fruit, star fruit and others. Most 3 year olds have never seen these and are excited to try them.

Does anyone have suggestions on what else to bring that can be served raw and can be easily cut up?

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Figs come to mind immediately, as do ripe Persimmons. I have no idea about availability in your area, but can you source red-skinned bananas? Have you ever found Mamey or Zapote? How about Babaco?

[Darienne]

If you can find a Buddha's Hand, the kids will be fascinated by that. Don't think you can eat it raw though... I'm sure it's too late for this year. Assuming you live where you could get one anyway...

Edited May 1, 2013 by Darienne (log)

[Ttogull]

I don't know what kind of stores you have in your area, but where I live the Asian supermarkets have tremendous selection (Grand Mart is one in particular that I frequent). They have fruit and veggies that I usually have to look up on my phone to figure out what to do with them.

Another fun thing, if you have the equipment, is to infuse fruits with other flavors using a whipping canister or something. Infusing apple slices with apple juice makes them taste much more apple-y, and uninfused slices taste bland by comparison. Strawberries with apple juice, etc. I made peanut butter apple slices by heating peanut butter in water to make peanut butter flavored water and then infusing the apple slices with the peanut butter water. It was cool because the apple slices looked normal, but had peanut butter flavor.

ETA Given that many schools have nut prohibitions, one could instead make cheddar apple slices by making cheddar cheese water and infusing the apple slices.

Edited May 1, 2013 by Ttogull (log)

[Shel_B]

Kiwi ... while not particularly exotic any more, at least around here, they are not very common in many areas and their fuzzy skin and bright green flesh with small dark seeds might appeal to kids. They certainly appeal to me <LOL>

Kumquats ... these small fruits somewhat resemble oranges, are of the citrus family, and are eaten raw.

Edited May 1, 2013 by Shel_B (log)

[Darienne]

...if only my Calamondom (Kalamansi & many other names) would fruit...

[Mjx]

Loquats are great. Also, green almonds are interesting; crunchy, if not huge on flavour, but nothing that should put off a small child.

[huiray]

You appear to be in the Mid-Atlantic/New England Region ("Sandy" region) (http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143808-cooking-without-power/#entry1895842).

I would imagine fresh lychees and longans would be available in your area? Those would be something different for many of your daughter's classmates I venture to speculate. I would caution against the suggestion of Kiwi fruit in another post - some people have VIOLENT allergic reactions to Kiwi and it might be best to avoid it.

Star fruit? Jackfruit? Mangosteens? (OK, the last one is expensive and not really worth it, after being imported frozen then thawed, but it is a nice idea I think :-) ) How about different sorts of melons from Korea/China/Japan? They are readily found in those "Asian" groceries you have referred to. DURIANS??!!! (heh, that could [but maybe not certainly?] get your daughter's class and school and authorities "going") (You can get frozen ones all over the place; although because they are frozen it might not count)

Even something simple as fresh Alfonso mangoes or other types of SE Asian mangoes (i.e. OTHER than the "Indian" types) might be a viable choice, and they ought to be available in your area.

[Shel_B]

I would caution against the suggestion of Kiwi fruit in another post - some people have VIOLENT allergic reactions to Kiwi and it might be best to avoid it.

Hmmm ... I never heard of anyone being allergic to Kiwi, but I've never paid much attention to finding out what foods cause allergic reactions. It's good to know that caution is advised. I'll have to check into the matter further ...

[huiray]

Issues about Kiwi fruit have been known for 30 years - especially for children. Some useful links:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14675467">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14675467
http://www.news-medical.net/news/2004/07/07/3139.aspx">http://www.news-medical.net/news/2004/07/07/3139.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwifruit#Allergies">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwifruit#Allergies
http://allergicliving.com/index.php/2010/09/01/serious-fruit-allergy-kiwi/">http://allergicliving.com/index.php/2010/09/01/serious-fruit-allergy-kiwi/
http://www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/userfiles/files/Kiwi%20Allergy%20Factsheet.pdf">http://www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/userfiles/files/Kiwi%20Allergy%20Factsheet.pdf

[Plantes Vertes]

Courgette/zucchini come in different shapes and colours and can be eaten raw.

You can also get all different colours of bell peppers, including black, white and purple.

There are also purple carrots and purple sprouting broccoli, and cherry tomatoes in all colours, or just tomatoes in different shapes.

Mange tout (snow peas) are delicious and sweet.

Baby corn or crinkle-cut raw carrots might be novel.

Kohlrabi?

[Ttogull]

crinkle-cut raw carrots might be novel.

Ooh - there is that art - origami vegetables? - where they make flowers and stuff out of everyday veggies. A good way to improve your knife skills.

[Shel_B]

There are also purple carrots ...

Lots of different carrot colors: http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/carrotcolours.html

[DanM]

Lots of great ideas! I know where I can get small red bananas and possibly kumquats with relative ease. I will scour the two reasonably clean and reliable Asian markets near me for fun stuff. I think there is one kid in the class with a kiwi allergy, so I will avoid that one. I saw jackfruit the other day at the local Indian market... I might have to experiment with it first.

Green almonds are great, but the school is nut/peanut free. The durian.... maybe not .

There is one local market that has fresh guava and prickly pears. Do you think this will be too difficult for little kids to eat?

Edited May 2, 2013 by DanM (log)

[Mjx]

Lots of great ideas! I know where I can get small red bananas and possibly kumquats with relative ease. I will scour the two reasonably clean and reliable Asian markets near me for fun stuff. I think there is one kid in the class with a kiwi allergy, so I will avoid that one. I saw jackfruit the other day at the local Indian market... I might have to experiment with it first.

Green almonds are great, but the school is nut/peanut free. The durian.... maybe not .

There is one local market that has fresh guava and prickly pears. Do you think this will be too difficult for little kids to eat?

I loved prickly pears as a kid (and now), and they can be easily cut up into easily managed chunks, but they have some pretty spectacular mess potential, since the cut surfaces tend to be sort of loosely textured; however, if your daughter's preschool is not uptight about that sort of thing, I'd go for it, the flavour and colour are likely to be a hit.