Have you heard about pineapple tomatillos? Yeah, you read that right, pineapple tomatillos!
Pineapple tomatillo is a unique ground cherry with a deliciously sweet and juicy pineapple flavor. The bushy plants produce loads of small, 1″ yellow fruits that have a nice texture and are encased in husks like green tomatillos. These babies make an unusual, exotic, delicious salsa and is excellent in salads, desserts, jams and great for canning. I mean, a pineapple tomatillo salsa will definitely take your dish to the next level. So many things you can make with these, can’t help it, I just love them!
Tomatillos and ground cherries are relatives of tomatoes. While green tomatillos are typically used savory like tomatoes, ground cherries are sweet as pineapple and eaten like fruit. These particular tomatillos have a defined pineapple flavor so it’s safe to say the flavor profile is more on the ground cherry side than on the green tomatillo side.
Though it looks like a tomato of a different color, a tomatillo is actually more closely related to gooseberries and ground cherries, according to Washington State University. Though cooking tomatillos brings out a rich enhanced flavor, tomatillos can also be eaten raw -and it might seem unusual but they make a heavenly fruit salad ingredient! Trust me!
I haven’t seen this in the regular/ chain supermarkets but I often find them in the farmer’s market, so go check them out and support your local farmers!
Now, try a fruit salad with pineapple tomatillos, this addition will take any boring fruit salad to the next level. I’ve tried many combinations and loved them all but this is the latest tropical fruit combo I’ve had so I’ll share it with you, it makes a great breakfast, snack or even dessert. To make it vegan you only need to substitute the honey for the sweetener of your choice.
Ingredients:
1/2 small diced dragon fruit
1/2 small diced big mango – if it’s small use the whole flesh.
1/4 cup pineapple tomatillos
4-5 strawberries in quarters or halves
1 tbsp honey
1/4 lime or lemon squeezed
1-2 chopped mint leaves
Method:
In a small bowl mix the honey and lime to make a thin syrup.
In a medium bowl put the fruits and gently stir in the syrup until everything is evenly coated.
Serve in a bowl and sprinkle the chopped mint on top. You can let it sit for a minute or two so all the flavors marry or you can just serve it right away.
You could mix the chopped mint in the syrup if you want but the acidity can turn them dark so that’s up to you. You can garnish it with a fresh whole mint leaf on top.
Enjoy!
*If you prefer to increase the amount and save some for later you can. I recommend to keep the syrup separately so the fruits don’t sit on it for too long which can make them a bit mushy because of the acidity in lime/lemon, that’s if you plan on saving it for more than a day; if it’s just for a few hrs you can save it already mixed and it will only enhance the fruits flavors.
