Feijoa inspiration & ideas

This is the first year one of the feijoa trees we planted is laden with fruit & we have so many that we can’t physically eat them all! We have even shared them with our neighbours & they still keep dropping off the tree. It has been a week of feijoa creations in our home so I thought I would share a few ideas with you.

FEIJOA GREEN SMOOTHIES

I love starting my day with a green smoothie & feijoas are a healthy & tasty part of the mix. Feijoas are really high in dietary fibre & Vitamin C.  In the above photos I have blended soaked linseed, banana, feijoas, kale & spirulina powder.  It makes a tasty, zingy mix.

I am planning to scoop out the feijoa flesh from any access fruit & freeze in bags to add to smoothies once the feijoa season is over. That way you get to enjoy them throughout the year.

FEIJOA SHRUB

Shrub is a refreshing drink you can make from any excess fruit. You end up with a fruit concentrate that you can enjoy with water & ice or even add it to your favourite drink mix. The feijoa & pear shrub we made goes superb in gin!  A friend  who stayed with us over the summer showed us how to make this refreshing drink that originated from the Middle East.

Scoop 1kg feijoa flesh into a bowl. (We used 800gm feijoa & 200gm grated pears).  Add 500gm sugar & stir & mash lightly to combine. Cover with a teatowel & leave for 2 days.  The sugar draws out the juice from the fruit.

Strain the feijoa mix through a sieve & collect the juice. Save the fruit pulp for the next recipe.  Pour the juice into bottles until they are ¾ full.  Top the bottles up with apple cider vinegar, tasting as you go until you end up with a combination of sweet fruit & vinegar that you like.

 Store the concentrate in the fridge.  Use it as you would any fruit concentrate – add a small amount to a glass & top up with water or your desired mix & enjoy.

FEIJOA CRUMBLE

The left over fruit pulp from the shrub can be used in several ways.  You can enjoy in on top of your porridge or breakfast cereal or create a fruit crumble dessert.  Place the pulp into an oven proof dish.

Depending on your food needs & what you have in your pantry, you can be creative as you like with the topping ingredients. Some examples of what you can make a combination from are - Rice or wheat or coconut flour, coconut, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, oats, a little sugar or honey.  Cinnamon is also a yummy addition.  Mix to combine in a bowl.

Rub in butter  with your fingers until it has the consistency of bread crumbs or use melted coconut oil or sunflower oil for a vegan dessert.

Crumble the topping over the fruit pulp & bake at 160C until golden on the top. We enjoyed ours with coconut icecream – very delicious

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There are so many ideas on the internet for things to create with feijoas.  They make a wonderful chutney too combined with apples or pears.  I hope you feel inspired to get creative. We would love to hear any of your recipes or ideas too!