Number 25: Try a new fruit and a new vegetable

Chayote Squash

Alternate names: Cho-cho, christophene, mango squash, mirliton, pear squash, vegetable pear, choko, pepinella, pepinello, xuxu, xoxo
Characteristics: Pronounced "chai-YO-teh," this lime-green gourd vegetable looks like a tight fist and is about as big as an apple. Although the flavor is nondescript (a cross between a potato and a cucumber), its taste is quite versatile. Look for chayotes that are firm and without wrinkles or blemishes. Treat the vegetable like a squash: Eat it raw in salads or cook it however you'd like. In southern Louisiana, chayotes are called mirlitons and are usually served stuffed with a seasoned beef mixture.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com:80/articlesguides/seasonalcooking/farmtotable/visualguidelatinamericanproduce#ixzz1nYx7ERmM

The pomelo (Citrus maxima or Citrus grandis) is a crisp citrus fruit native to Southeast Asia. It is usually pale green to yellow when ripe, with sweet white (or, more rarely, pink or red) flesh and very thick albedo (rind pith). It is the largest citrus fruit, 15–25 centimetres (5.9–9.8 in) in diameter,^[1] and usually weighing 1–2 kilograms (2.2–4.4 lb). (from wikipedia)

The pomelo tastes like a sweet, mild grapefruit (which is itself a hybrid of the pomelo and the orange), though the typical pomelo is much larger in size than the grapefruit. It has very little, or none, of the common grapefruit's bitterness, but the enveloping membranous material around the segments is bitter, considered inedible, and thus usually is discarded. The peel is sometimes used to make marmalade, or is candied and sometimes dipped in chocolate. The peel of the pomelo The Chandler is a California variety of pomelo, with a smoother skin than many other varieties. An individual Chandler fruit can reach the weight of one kilogram. Pomelos are usually grafted onto other citrus rootstocks, but can be grown from seed, provided the seeds are not allowed to dry out before planting. The seedlings take approximately 8 years to start blooming and yielding fruit.

The tangelo is a hybrid between the pomelo and the tangerine. It has a thicker skin than a tangerine and is less sweet. (from Wikipedia) Interesting, eh?

I really enjoyed both of these new things. I wish I lived in a place where I could get fresh fruits and vegetables on a regular basis. I might try to just eat as much as possible from as many local farmers markets as possible in all the places that I might find myself this summer. So, if I'm headed your way this summer, plan on consuming as many fresh fruits and veggies as possible :)