No Fooling Good Eats

Happy April Fool's Day! There are so many fun ways to celebrate today other than switching up the salt and sugar! Why not eat a food that looks inedible on the outside but is, no fooling, delicious on the inside. Here are three of my favorite "fool the eye" veggies available in most grocery stores.

Artichokes are my number one favorite spring veggie. They are a hard food for some to appreciate what tasty delights lie within. Quite a bit of folklore is hidden in their leaves, too. Legend has it that the artichoke is really a beautiful maiden...one who misbehaved. The gods punished her by turning her into a thistle. Ouch. The artichoke's leaves are topped off with holly-like stickers that can give a good prick but once steamed, the "meat" at the base of each leaf is absolutely delectable and worth discovering. It is just made for dipping in lemon butter. After the leaves comes the piece de resistance...the heart of the choke. For more info and a really fun website, go to http://www.artichokes.org/ for the full story and some great recipes for this wonderful spring treat.

Nopale or "prickly pear" cactus leaves are another "No fooling, that's edible?" looking veggie. Once the stickers and prickers are gone from the leaves, they cook up into a really delicious veggie. I love them in salads. Their flavor is really fresh with just a hint of lemon. Nice and spring-y. Here is some more info on them: http://www.ehow.com/about_5422329_nopal-cactus-health-benefits.html

Third on my April Fool's list is the jicama. What a crazy looking veg...covered with a brown, paper-y, slightly fuzzy skin. They are delicious peeled and sliced into matchstick lengths then drizzled with lemon or lime juice, a sprinkle of sea salt and dash of cayenne. Wonderful and crisp, they make a nice and crunchy, slightly sweet and very refreshing snack. Here is a recipe for a beautiful jicama salad: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/jicama_salad/

Yum...go grab any of these veggies today and have some good eats, and Happy April...no fooling!   

And here are some pix from the wharf...I was trying to photograph some beautiful gulls and felt like a fool when I realized how easy it could have been to get a great picture! 

Ok...ready for your photo op?

Putting on the air brakes so fast my camera couldn't even focus!

A teenage gull flying in close to check me out!

Here's the man with the plan, some experience and no fooling around gull-sense!