What are the benefits of Passion Fruits?

The Passion of Monavie

It is said that the Passion Fruit was named by the 16th century Spanish Catholic Missionaries in the Amazon region of Brazil. They called it "flor passionis" (passion flower) or "flor de las cinco llagas" (flower of the five wounds) after its purple flower which they believed resembled the five wounds of Christ.

An egg-shaped tropical fruit that is also called a purple granadilla, the passion fruit has a brittle, wrinkled purple-brown rind enclosing flesh-covered seeds, something like a pomegranate (granadilla means "little pomegranate" in Spanish). The seeds are edible so you can eat the orange pulp straight from the shell. Passion fruit is more commonly sieved and its highly aromatic pulp and juice are used as a flavoring for beverages and sauces.

Native to Brazil, passion fruits are grown in Hawaii, Florida, and California. These crops, along with imports from New Zealand, keep passion fruit on the market all year. Choose large, heavy fruits. If the skin is not deeply wrinkled, keep the fruit at room temperature until it is; the leathery rind, however, will not soften much. Ripe passion fruit can be refrigerated for a few days.

Nutritional Information

Passion fruit is a good source of vitamins A and C, as well as potassium and iron. One passion fruit has only 16 calories. When eaten with the seeds, a serving is an excellent source of fiber.


Learn More About Monavie

How to Be Creative When you are Cooking

by Shauna Hanus


Have you ever been in the kitchen ready to eat and realized you don't have your favorite sauce or dip for dinner. This happened to me recently when my family was sitting down to beer battered Walleye from a recent fishing trip. We had no tartar sauce. So I opened the regenerator and selected mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon and dill pickle relish. I then mixed the four together and sprinkled in a little fish rub from the pantry. We had instant tartar sauce and really tasty fish.

When you are in your kitchen don't be afraid to experiment a bit. Try a homemade barbeque sauce if you are out of your favorite bottled variety. Mix ketchup, and dry mustard with molasses and a dash or two of pepper. If it is a salad you desire here is a quick and easy oriental chicken salad.

Toss some lettuce into a bowl next chop leftover chicken into bite size pieces and sprinkle on top of the lettuce. Whisk together in a separate bowl sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, a spoon full of Hoisin sauce and a dash of oyster sauce. Pour over the salad and toss. If you have any fresh veggies on hand toss those in as well.

Finally a dessert quick substitution. When you want hot fudge sundaes and are out of fudge sauce try melting chocolate cake frosting. Pour the warmed cake frosting over ice cream and you have quick and easy hot fudge sundaes. If you really like to mix things up try melting a different flavor of cake frosting. Little children enjoy using confetti cake frosting, this way they have sauce for the ice cream with sprinkles built in.


About the Author
Shauna Hanus is a gourmet cook who specializes in creating gourmet meal plans. She has extensive experience cooking with easy to find grocery items to create delightful gourmet meals. She is also the publisher of a no cost bi-monthly gourmet newsletter. Her newsletter is always fun and informational packed with tips and trivia you can use everyday. http://www.gourmayeats.com