Knowledge, they say, is power. In this case, it's SuperFood power. Just a week ago, I thought of kiwi as has-been fad fruit. You know. Every once in a while, a fruit hits celebrity status. It grabs all the "Did you know -this fruit- can cure cancer?" headlines among the chit chat circuit, and listeners chime in with "Oh, really?" choruses. Kiwifruit used to enjoy such attention, but it fell to the wayside as summer fruits like peaches, cheeries, and plums grabbed the spotlight on my weekly farmer market treks.
Well, last week, after New Zealand's Kiwi company, Zespri, sponsored a VIP luncheon at Calafia Cafe in Palo Alto, I found out kiwifruit is a SuperFood. And it's now my personal superstar favorite. As in over-the-moon-can't-wait-to-eat-it-again favorite.
Does that ever happen to you? You just get ga-ga over a certain fruit and the thought of eating it makes you swoon? I love it when that happens!
Three things about kiwi cast it's fruit obsession spell on me:
1st Importance. It's super healthy: one serving can knock out three nutrients with one kiwi.By eating one kiwi, I get a day's worth of vitamin C, potassium (1/2 a banana), and 2 grams of fiber. And if you happen to find a gold kiwi (sold at Asian markets) rather than a green one (just check out the label, it'll say), you'll get double the dosage.
How that translates to me? I can break out of my daily routine: skip oatmeal for that day and still get my fiber (yeah!), pass on the banana, and get the same nutrients in a kiwi instead! All in just 45 calories, which is awesome, since I'm trying to lose my pregnancy baby fat.
2nd Importance. It's super easy to eat: I used to feel that eating kiwi was like eating a mango. This meant it was good fruit for my pre-mom era, but not a practical luxury with a newborn and toddler. One is yelping for milk while the other is hollering at me to watch him stand on one foot.
What changed all that is the spife. A spife is a spoon and knife combined. I can eat a kiwi by cutting it in half and scooping it out like ice cream (my other not-so-diet-friendly obsession).
Karen Brux, Zepsri's US Market Manager, passed out the spoon-on-one-end, knife-on-the-other spife to us, along with some kiwis to try out. Chef Charlie, owner of the classy eatery, demo'd it for us in a flash (Amaaazing food, btw. Must go again. Charlie Ayers was the chef that fed Google as it's Executive Chef).
I couldn't wait to try out the spife myself. After all, like Hubby says, "It's all about the tools."
For once, I totally agree. We went to the beach that weekend and actually ate our kiwis (three year old TJ included!) in the open air. Can you imagine eating anything with sand everywhere mess free?!! We were all kiwifruit converts!
3rd Importance. It's deliciously beautiful and sweet to eat. Hey, you won't find this girl crunching on bran or dry oats with a smile. I just can't sustain eating boring but healthy foods indefinitely.
But, now that I've found kiwi, it's on my list of Healthy Foods That Make Me Happy!
So, if you haven't given kiwi a chance to be your fave food, check out the Zesprikiwi.com website, get a spife (I bought some kiwis in at Safeway this week and it was packaged with one), and make sure it has the Zespri label on it. Then, you'll know it's actually from New Zealand and not from Chile or someplace else.




