Homemade Salsa with Fruit and Feijoa Blossoms
One of my favorite things to write about are “found foods”. The wonderful little bounties that nature provides to us for free….if we just know where to look. Apples from your or your neighbors trees, plums arriving on the doorstep from a friend, purslane growing like a weed in your yard! Sometimes there are little treasures growing all around us and we just need to discover them!
I have been spending a lot of time in San Francisco lately. Talk about found food! I am like a kid in a candy shop as I walk through the neighborhood looking at lemons and oranges growing on trees! To some of you, this may seem silly. Of course they grow on trees. But as a native Minnesotan, we can’t grow citrus trees. It is too cold. Seeing the trees, covered in fruit in all their glory makes my heart skip a beat!
The other night I was out for a walk with my camera. I noticed a small tree/shrub with stunning little flowers on it. I took a picture, posted it on Facebook and started trying to figure out what it was. I google imaged all kinds of things. Little white flowers with red pistils, flowering shrubs with white flowers, but nothing came up. Then a wonderful Facebook friend from Italy, identified the “tree” for me. It is called a Fejioa tree. Not only does it have beautiful blossoms, it also produces a wonderful fruit (sometimes referred to as pineapple guava).
As I read about this beautiful tree, I also found out that the blossoms are edible. One writer described them as tasting like cinnamon cotton candy. Not believing this, I quickly ran outside and popped a few of the flower petals in my mouth. Cinnamon cotton candy. Seriously. I was so inspired, I decided to throw together a recipe that could include the petals. I came up with this fruit homemade salsa with fruit, infused with rosemary. If you don’t have feijoa blossoms, don’t worry. It is great without them!
Fruit Salsa with Feijoa Blossoms
- 1 cup mango, diced
- 1 cup strawberry, diced
- 1 cup kiwi, diced
- 1 cup pineapple, diced
- 1 cup blackberries, quartered
- 1 /2 cup red onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons agave or liquid sweetener of choice
- 1 tablespoon rosemary, finely chopped
- Mix all ingredients together. A fine dice is best for this salsa.
- Chill and serve with your favorite raw crackers.
Robyn wrote on June 7, 2012
What a gorgeous flower and beautiful salad to try 🙂
Amy Bacheller wrote on June 7, 2012
Beautiful photo and great idea! I have five of those guava trees in full bloom in my garden right now. They become a wonderful, green, egg shaped fruit. When they ripen, they fall from the tree. Collecting them is like hunting for Easter eggs. They’re great in smoothies.
Eileen wrote on June 6, 2012
Yes–something to do with the million flowers growing on our gigantic pineapple guava tree! Hooray! It’s seriously so big & prolific that we *need* to eat the flowers if we don’t want to be completely swamped in pineapple guavas come October. 🙂
Shelly wrote on June 6, 2012
I lived in New Zealand for 3 years and had a feijoa tree in my backyard. I thoroughly enjoyed the fruit, and never knew the blossoms were edible. If I get to go back for a visit I must remember to try some “cinnamon cotton candy”!!
Dawn Lerman wrote on June 6, 2012
This looks so good! I love all the color. Check out my peach salsa recipe… I think you’d like it!
Ida wrote on June 6, 2012
If you’re in SF now, contact me! There’s avocados on a tree near me, and lots of other stuff. Would love to meet you.
Ida
Faith wrote on June 6, 2012
wow Susan, sounds like you’ve landed in the Garden of Eden! I went to Hawai’i once and loved finding mangoes and avocadoes and coconuts on the ground…and that feijoa flower is gorgeous…
April wrote on June 6, 2012
This looks delicious. As always, I adore your recipes!
Caralyn @ glutenfreehappytummy wrote on June 5, 2012
wow that is GORGEOUS!! those black berries! yum! your food is always so beautiful! thanks for sharing!