Posted on by Maggie

Dragon fruit! Roasted Seaweed! Friends!

I have some new foods for you guys to check out. I’ve seen dragon fruit on Coco’s blog, so when I saw it at 99 Ranch (Chinese grocery store), I knew I should try it. It was $3.49/pound. I think this fruit was about $2. I should really look for dragon fruit recipes. Any suggestions?

03-dragonfruit-400x343

I cut it in half and took off the peel; then I cut it in pieces and ate it plain.

02 cut dragonfruit

It was kind of boring. It wasn’t very sweet, and didn’t have a very distinct flavor. I guess dragon fruit just isn’t my thing. It was worth a shot though. I hear that it’s better chilled (?). Here’s some dragon fruit nutrition information…

Dragon fruit is also called pitaya. In Chinese it’s huǒ lóng guǒ (火龍果/火龙果), which means fire dragon fruit, or lóng zhū guǒ (dragon pearl fruit). In Vietnamese it’s thanh long (green dragon). The redder the fruit, the more Vitamin C it has. It’s also a good source of fiber, phosphorus, and calcium. Dragonfruit has albumin antioxidants, which are helpful for preventing cancer. It’s pretty versatile – diabetics in Taiwan sometimes eat it instead of rice. Dragon fruit is very low calorie.

If you hadn’t noticed, my new favorite photo place is outside on my balcony. I balance food on the thin railing, which scares Bobby… but it usually gives me perfect lighting.

I found something to make up for the dragon fruit disappointment though…

01 korean roasted seaweed

Korean Roasted Seaweed! These come in packs of 3 and they were on sale for $1 per pack (of 3). The ingredients are just seaweed, oil, and salt. They are crispy and very slightly oily (not overly so) which gives them a nice flavor. I used to go through packs of these like crazy, but for some reason I stopped buying them a while ago.

I picked up these seaweed treats and a bunch of other goodies at 99 Ranch last night when I met up with my new bloggie friend, Linda. I met her at the KERF meetup on Sunday and it turns out she lives pretty close. I actually met up with another new friend yesterday too; we walked and talked and got yummy tea together. I accidentally ended up walking about 5 miles. I love making new friends 🙂

How do you usually meet new people?

P.S. I got on Foodgawker and Tastespotting yesterday! I love my new camera!

21 Replies to “Dragon fruit! Roasted Seaweed! Friends!”

  1. Dragon fruit sounds kind of interesting. I wonder if it would be better mixed with other things than plain? I usually meet people through work or through other friends.

  3. How cool you and Linda live so close and met up! I ate dragon fruit when I was in China. It looks so cool but not that exciting on the inside. When I had my birthday over their it was all over my birthday cake lol.
    Congrats on your pictures being taken!! I love the work of the new camera!

  4. Congrats on the pictures!! Your photography is awesome and you make all your meals and snacks look incredible, so the mentions are much-deserved….I’m sure there will be more in the future, too 🙂
    I’ve tried Dragonfruit…thought it was boring, too. Kind of like sweetend jicama, but without that satisfying “crunch” that the jic’ provides. And I LOVE jicama. I dunno…I guess if I know I am eating fruit, I expect it to have SOME sort of distinct taste (either sweet or tart). The meat DOES look cool, though.
    And I LOVE roasted seaweed!! Anyone who ever sees me snack on it thinks I am nutso. That and cactus jerky.
    Happy October! I’m just waiting for the first persimmons to roll around 🙂

  6. Never tasted dragonfruit–but it’s gorgeous in full form, isn’t it? I actually really don’;t like roasted seaweed. I think my mom forced me to try it as a kid–and I haven’t been able to stomach it since haha

  7. true! dragon fruits is kind of bland in term of taste. I like it because it’s not so sweet and it’s fresh, and because of its nutritional values. 🙂

    congrats on getting pics published! I love your pics!

  9. I saw that on Coco’s blog and thought it looked interesting – have never seen it in my stores though.

    Hooray for Tastespotting and Foodgawker! My pictures usually get labeled “dull, uninteresting, out of focus, poor lighting. . .”!!

    Happy Friday!

  10. you could always make a dragon fruit smoothie…add some cancer fighting elements to your morning smoothie???

    I love your balcony pics..they are beautiful! and YES nice lighting makes all the difference.

    I don’t meet new people easily…it’s a real tough one for me.
    big TRUST issues.

    HA

    nice you can meet up with bloggie friends near you! how cool is that?

  12. I tried dragon fruit before too and I wasn’t a fan, either.

    haha until you said something I didn’t even realize the pics were balanced on the little railing!

  14. I had dragon fruit on the plane once coming back to the U.S. from Shanghai. I was so freaked out when I saw it! Haha. Now seeing the outside, it totally looks like some mutant fruit. Haha. I still tried it but I didn’t like it very much either. I love Korean Seaweed and it’s always so cheap! I wish they didn’t use so much packaging though.

    I love meeting new people and I can meet them anywhere! Haha. I’ve never in my life met someone who didn’t already know someone I knew, I know wayy too many people and I hate running into people so it is such a nightmare for me. Mingling at parties is the easiest. I also host people from couchsurfers sometimes and it is really interesting meeting people from all over and hearing their stories.

  15. Yum! I love Korean roasted seaweed 🙂 It’s great with rice and kimchi, mmm.

    I’ve been meeting lots of people these days by actually attending social events (I never attended them as an undergrad), going to church activities, and blogging. It helps if you participate, instead of wait for people to come to you!

  19. YAY Tastespotting and Foodgawker! Congrats, MAggie!! Those are hard to get in…

    Oh and I just read your last post on raw food. I totally agree. Raw food can be healthy, but only in certain doses. We humans were NOT meant to eat a mostly raw diet. I think this raw foodism is really just another fad…

    Oh, and don’t get the white dragonfruit…it isn’t that good. Get the bright pink one, and those are REALLY sweet and helps your regularity! 😉

  20. I don’t think I’ll like dragon fruit, but I have to try it at least once. Maybe when I can find it for cheap!

    That roasted seaweed however looks amazing! I bet it would be delish on salads!

Comments are closed.