tropical fruits at christmas and special occasions

The consumption of tropical fruits is also especially recommended as a complement of a healthy diet, since they have a high nutritional value and a important vitamin richness, which in some cases can exceed that of citrus fruits.

Without forgetting its varied medicinal propertiesvery suitable for strengthening the immune system, preventing infections, treating digestive ailments, avoiding the attack of the dreaded free radicals or improving the appearance of the skin, among others.

It is worth daring to try these little delicacies. The most practical thing is taste these fruits occasionally, integrating them into traditional recipes or creating new and original dishes that will banish the routine from our tables in a very tasty way, and that will allow you to enjoy all its therapeutic value. In short, a healthy and delicious temptation that It can put the cherry on top of a festive menu.

The Christmas holidays are an excellent time to do it, since They allow you to surprise your loved ones who gather around our table during these dates.s, sharing the best of ourselves in appetizing recipes. They will thus discover the numerous culinary possibilities of these foods and will be able to better appreciate their varied shapes, textures and flavorswhich will expand your gastronomic horizons.

Although it is best to enjoy them naturally, exotic fruits offer a wide range of gastronomic possibilities, as long as some rules are followed:

3 recipes with exotic fruits

Rice and mango salad with sesame

Ingredients (for 4 people):

• 2 ripe mangoes
• 200 g long grain brown rice
• 1/2 endive
• 16 cherry tomatoes
• 200 g of fresh Burgos cheese
• 25 g toasted sesame seeds
• 50 ml cold-pressed virgin olive oil
• 40 ml of Modena vinegar
• salt

Preparation (15′ + 15′ cooking):

1. Place the previously washed and drained brown rice and salt in a saucepan with water. heating the mixture over high heat until it comes to a boil. Then lower the heat and, with the lid tightly closed, cook until practically all the water is absorbed. At that point remove from the heat and let it rest for a few minutes.
2. Next, wash the cherry tomatoes well and cut them in half. Then peel the mangoes and cut the pulp into cubes. Also cut the fresh cheese into cubes. On the other hand, wash the endive under running water and chop it with your hands, avoiding doing it with a knife as it hardens at the ends. Reserve all of these ingredients separately for later.
3. Finally, drain the rice, place it in a bowl and add the previously reserved ingredients. Finally, add a pinch of salt and toasted sesame seeds to the salad and season the mixture with the olive oil and Móclena vinegar. This vitamin dish will now be ready to serve.

Variant:

You can replace the fresh cheese with mozzarella.

Nutritional information:

• Calories: 355
• Protein: 11 g
• Carbohydrates: 40 g
• Fat: 21 g
• Cholesterol: 49 mg.

Papaya, starfruit and passion fruit tartlets

Ingredients (for 8 tartlets):

For the dough:

• 120 g whole wheat flour
• 120 g white flour
• 1 beaten egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 100g butter
• 125 ml of water
• salt

For the filling:

• 2 papayas
• 2 carambolas
• 2 passion fruits
• 2 persimmons
• 200 ml strawberry jam
• 20 ml lemon juice

Preparation (30′ + 17′ cooking + 30′ rest):

1. Work the dough ingredients until the mixture is homogeneous. Then wrap it with transparent kitchen paper and let it rest for about 30 minutes in the refrigerator. After that time, stretch the dough on a floured surface until it is very thin. Next cut into eight rectangles and grease their edges with water. With the leftover dough, make strips and place them on the edges of each tartlet. Brush with the beaten egg white and prick its surface (except for the edge strips), so that the dough does not rise too much when baking. Place in the oven and cook at 150ºC for 15 to 20 minutes.
2. While the tartlet dough is cooling, prepare a syrup by cooking the strawberry jam with the lemon juice for two minutes over medium heat. Sift the glaze obtained a little and varnish the tartlets with it. Next, peel the persimmons and cut them in half, emptying out the pulp with a spoon. Do the same with passion fruits. Cut the starfruit into thin slices and shape the papaya pulp into balls with the help of a scooper. Finally, fill the tartlets with the chopped fruits and cover the mixture with the leftover syrup. This dessert is served at room temperature.

Nutritional information (per tartlet):

• Calories: 334
• Protein: 6 g
• Carbohydrates: 47 g
• Fat: 14 g
• Cholesterol: 148 mg.

Mango and coconut ice cream with lychees and alquequenjes

Ingredients (for 4 people):

• 1 ripe mango
• 1/2 shredded coconut
• 4 lychees
• 4 alquequenjes
• 4 egg yolks
• 250 ml milk
• 4 tablespoons of whole cane sugar
• 100 g Chantilly whipped cream

Preparation (15′ + 5′ cooking + 3 hours cooling):

1. Beat the egg yolks with the whole cane sugar and, meanwhile, bring the milk to a boil.
2. Next peel the mango and cut into small pieces. Place in the mixer glass along with the coconut, the boiling milk and the yolks whipped with the sugar. Then blend until you obtain a homogeneous mixture and add the whipped cream.
3. Pour the previous mixture into four metal containers, freeze and, approximately every half hour, stir to prevent the formation of ice crystals. You must repeat this operation until the mixture freezes completely, which is achieved after about three hours.
4. Finally, remove the mixture from the freezer and form balls into the desired cups. Serve each ice cream accompanied by a lychee and an alquequenje, which will provide a vitamin note of color to the preparation.

Nutritional information:

• Calories: 348
• Protein: 7 g
• Carbohydrates: 24 g
• Fats: 25 g
• Cholesterol: 348 mg.