Canned rambutans are available in ethnic supermarkets, and when peeled and stuffed with pineapples they are a luscious addition to your summer barbecue.
The fresh rambutan is in season throughout the spring, summer, and fall, but expect to pay about ten times more for rambutans than you’d pay for common red grapes. This tropical fruit can cost as much as $10 per pound in some supermarkets, compared with 99 cents a pound for red grapes during their peak season in July.
Luckily, syrup-drenched canned rambutans aren’t likely to cost you more than $2 or $3, just a little more than you’d pay for early season red grapes at around $1.99 a pound, according to Melissa’s.
More than Just Strawberries
Nutrition experts say that choosing fruits and vegetables in a variety of colors is a great way to get a range of the vitamins you need. Strawberry heirloom peaches are named for their deep-red flesh. This stone fruit and its candy-sweet fragrance is only in season for a few weeks in late July so they may be much pricier than regular peaches.
Also known for its deep-strawberry color is the strawberry papaya. While orange-fleshed papayas were once the most popular version of the tropical fruit in the U.S., the strawberry papaya has gained popularity, says Melissa’s spokesman Robert Schueller, and it’s available year-round. Papayas contain protein-digesting enzymes, making them a great meal-ender, especially if you’re having a barbecue.
On average, football-sized strawberry papayas are sold for about $2.25 each. That’s about what you’d pay for a decent-sized watermelon and a bit more than the $1.50 per pound you’d pay for actual strawberries during their peak season from April to July.
Baby Pineapples: Smaller and Sweeter
Sugary-sweet pineapples are great on the grill and the South African baby pineapple is so sweet that it’ll reach your taste buds before you cut it open. (If the bottom of a pineapple smells sweet, it’s ripe.) And pineapples are high in fiber and provide vitamin C, potassium and digestive enzymes as well.
The six-ounce South African baby pineapple, available year-round, costs between $1.99 to $2.49 each. It’s more expensive per pound than what you’d pay for an average, three-pound golden pineapple, $5.99 to $6.99, but since it has no core and it’s the perfect single-serving size, it’s not as hard to cut and there’s not as much waste.
By Athea Chang of MainStreet
