The warmer weather brings with it a whole new set of fresh produce and these spring fruits will satisfy your sweet and savoury taste buds!
Avocados
While we put them in our salads and savoury dishes and count them as a rich source of healthy fat, avocados are technically a fruit. Avos are a rich source of mono-unsaturated fats which can help with lowering cholesterol. Avocados are also a great source of fibre for digestive health, vitamin K for bone health and folate for regenerating body tissue. What’s more, including a moderate amount of healthy fats from avocado can help with appetite control and weight management.
New ideas:
- Spread or dice some avocado onto your next pizza. I promise you won’t regret it.
- Try grilling your avocado before adding it to a salad. Simply chop your avo in half, remove the seed and place under the grill for 2-3 minutes.
- Stuff it! Try halving your avo and cracking an egg into the middle whole. Then top the avo with some spinach and tomato. Bake your stuffed avocado in the oven until the egg is cooked and serve with toast and mushrooms.
- Swap the butter in your mashed potatoes for a couple of tablespoons of avocado. Surprisingly delicious!
- You might like to try this breakfast idea of scrambled eggs on toast with a twist.
Grapefruit
This citrus fruit packs a punch, both with it’s strong flavour and super high levels of vitamin C. Grapefruit is like your spring and summer equivalent of oranges and mandarins. I have often found grapefruit to be a little intimidating and a bit tart. Be not afraid! Grapefruit pairs well with so many flavours ….
New ideas:
- Jazz up a spring salad with some grapefruit pieces, avocado and a balsamic vinaigrette.
- Add some slices into your water bottle with mint leaves or ginger for a refreshing beverage with a twist. See our infused water jugs for more inspiration!
- Better yet – make a low kJ spring mock-tail by combining grapefruit and mint with a berry infused mineral water.
- Combine some sliced grapefruit with roasted or tinned beetroot and crumbled feta cheese. The perfect mix of sour, sweet and salty.
Note: Grapefruit can interact with some medications. If you are unsure whether your medications could be affected, speak to your GP.
Passionfruit
There is something magical about the smell of a ripe passionfruit. It’s the smell of warm weather and pavlova. And all those good feelings come with some great nutrition benefits. All the seeds in your passionfruit help to boost the fibre content, making it a healthy sweet snack. Two small passionfruit will give you more than 5g of fibre! That’s way more than a standard muesli bar and much more delicious!
New ideas:
- Start your day with some sweetness my combining a passionfruit with 150-200g of greek yoghurt. This would also make a pretty satisfying dessert or 3pm snack.
- Blend your passionfruit up with some frozen mango and milk or yoghurt for a smoothie.
- Mix some 2 passionfruit with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar for a refreshing vinaigrette on a salad of your choice.
Blueberries
Always a favourite in the superfood lists, blueberries are little purple power balls of nutrition. 1 cup of blueberries will give you 3.5g of fibre (about 15% of you daily needs), a quarter of your daily vitamin C and one third of your daily vitamin K. That’s not including all of the other phytochemicals (plant chemicals beneficial for health) they contain. The most surprising nutritional benefit of blueberries is the presence of omega 3 fatty acids. While oily fish is the richest source of omega 3’s, blueberries can help you meet your daily needs for brain health and immunity.
New ideas:
- Get baking. Pop some blueberries in a wholemeal muffin or pancake recipe and get the most nutritional bang for your sweet tooth buck.
- Try our blueberry and ricotta cracker topping for a different way to use rice crackers.
- Pack a punnet to have for morning tea instead of dried fruit. A punnet of blueberries makes for a perfect quick, easy, sweet and portion controlled snack.
Pineapple
Even though we think citrus fruits are the best source of vitamin C, pineapple is right up there too. One cup of pineapple will give you 150% of your recommend daily requirements of vitamin C. A fresh pineapple may seem a bit too much effort, but trust me it’s not. Try chopping off the top and the bottom of the pineapple to form a cylinder. Then slice off the rough sides from top to bottom. The rest of the pineapple can be chopped and stored in the fridge for up to a week.
New ideas:
- Blend it into a smoothies with some banana and leafy greens like baby spinach. The pineapple is so sweet you will barely notice the extra serve of veg you are getting.
- Pop it into a salad with some carrot, cucumber and red cabbage for a colourful and delicious side dish.
- Freeze pineapple pieces for a whole food alternative to icy-poles
- Whip up a sweet and sour sauce for stir fry by combining 1 cup tinned pineapple and juice, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 Tablespoon white vinegar, 1 Tablespoon tomato sauce and 1 tablespoon cornflour.
Pomelo
Pomelo is also known as pummelo, pamplemousse and shaddock. It’s a spring fruit from South East Asia and the outer rind can range from green to yellow. They look like over grown grapefruit and, once you cut though the thick rind, the fruit inside is a sweet and much less sour version of a grapefruit. Perfect for those who find a grapefruit too tart.
New ideas:
- Add some pomelo to your next fruit salad. Friends and family will be impressed with your exotic taste in spring fruits.
- Mix up a Vietnamese style salad by pairing pomelo with prawns, shredded carrot, mint, coriander, peanuts, shallots and some lettuce.
- Blend you pomelo up with some mango and add some mineral water for a refreshing mock-tail.
Rockmelon
I have to admit that rockmelon was my least favourite fruit as a child. But as I have gotten older I have noticed how well rockmelon compliments other flavours. Rockmelon is lower in sugar than many fruits and is a great source of fibre, potassium and folic acid. If, like me, you were rockmelon averse, give it a chance with some different flavours. You may be a convert!
New ideas:
- Top slices of rockmelon with muesli and yoghurt as a wholesome breakfast or nutritious dessert.
- Pair rockmelon with some cheese and prosciutto for party canapés
Strawberries
They are a family favourite and most people don’t need any encouragement to hoe into a punnet of these vibrant ‘berries’. Fun fact about strawberries: they are not really a fruit or a berry. They are an enlarged flower stem. The fruits are the small seeds on the outside of the berry, called achenes. Strawberries are another low sugar fruit option and are jam packed with other nutrients. Grab them while they are cheap this spring!
New ideas:
- Pair with some blueberries in a quick and easy sweet berry tart.
- Add strawberries to your salad and lunch with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar
- Whip up a fancy looking dessert by layering sliced strawberries, yoghurt and toasted muesli for form a strawberry parfait. Perfect for entertaining or a healthy evening snack.
For more spring produce check out our 8 Spring Vegetables article.
If you’d like further help with your nutrition please click below:
