Truffles + Macadamias + Dates

Rating: 10/10

Snack mix of chocolate truffles, macadamia nuts, and deglet noor dates. My three favorite tiny round foods eaten together = perfect combo. Like a super awesome bag of trail mix to carry around and snack on throughout the day. Got to fight the urge to down it all in one sitting though. Really, what's not to love? The sweet, rich, melty chocolate. The crunchy, smooth and salty macadamia. The chewy, caramel sweet dates (from Tunisia apparently, makes me want to go there next).

Nutrition:

• 5 Truffettes de France Truffles = 250 Calories, 2g fiber, 8g sugar, 10% of daily Iron
• Savanna Orchards Gourmet Dry Roasted Macadamias (1/4 cup) = 210 Calories, 2g fiber, 115mg Sodium
• Made in Nature Delectable Deglet Noor Dates (1/4 cup) = 120 Calories, 3g fiber, 28g sugar

Total Calories = 580
A bunch of fiber here. Quite substantial snack, keeps you full for awhile.

Blackcurrant Juice + Coconut Meat

Rating: 8/10

My obsession with blackcurrant juice dates back to 2007 when I first came across a bottle of Ribena in London and became instantly hooked. To the extent that the high point of any trip to the UK for me is this delightful beverage. So you can imagine my joy at finding blackcurrant juice in Trader Joe's of all places. Not an exact replica of Ribena but satisfying nonetheless. Naturally, I decided to combine it with my other obsession: young coconut. Slicing chunks of coconut meat into a glass of blackcurrant juice makes for a fun drinking experience. Just imagine if the two were actually one fruit: the mildly sweet and gelatinous texture of the coconut meat plus the fragrantly sweet and sour juice. Trippy.

Nutrition:

• Trader Joe's Black Currant Juice (cup) =  100 Calories, 24g sugar, 110mg Potassium, 70% of daily Vitamin C
• Asia Exotic Corp BL young coconut meat = 140 Calories, 2g fiber, 17% of daily Calcium

Total Calories = 240
Yay for Vitamin C, but not much else of note.

Pear + Pistachios

Rating: 7.5/10

Green pear eaten with pistachios. Both green colored foods. As good a reason to combine them as any. Plus they both start with the letter "P." Meant to be, I say. The crispy, juicy, sweet, grainy pear is a fine counterpoint to the crunchy, salty little pistachios. More play dates for these two!

Nutrition:

• green pear = 102 Calories, 206mg Potassium, 6g fiber, 12% of daily Vitamin C
• Kirkland Signature Salt & Pepper Everybody's Nuts! Pistachios (cup) = 320 Calories, 6g fiber, 660mg Sodium, 560mg Potassium, 40% of daily Vitamin B6, 30% of daily Thiamin, 12% of daily Iron

Total Calories = 422
Chock full of fiber and Potassium with some sprinklings of vitamins and minerals. Not bad.

Coconut Water + Basil + Peach

Rating: 7/10

Got this disappointingly bland tasteless Naked brand coconut water and was looking for a way to spice it up a bit. Had a bunch of fresh peaches and some extra basil lying around. Perfect opportunity to experiment with making my own juice drink. So I diced up the peach, chopped some large basil leaves, tossed it all into the coconut water, shook well, and let refrigerate for a day before drinking. Decided to use an empty glass milk jar for this concoction because glass is sturdy and doesn't pollute taste like paper or plastic cartons. The end product: rather refreshing. The peach flavor sort of overpowered everything else, the coconut of course barely registered, and the splash of basil really gave it character.

Nutrition:

• Naked Pure Coconut Water = 60 Calories, 650mg Potassium
• basil (5 leaves) = 0 Calories
• peach = 60 Calories, 285mg Potassium, 2.2g fiber, 16% of daily Vitamin C

Total Calories = 120
This is like the entire pint's worth, which of course I didn't drink all in one sitting. But this was the total of what I made.

Nutella + Saturn Peach

Rating: 7/10

Further proof that Nutella makes everything better. Just spread it over saturn peaches and instant dessert. Had a bunch of these flat donut-shaped peaches lying around and couldn't do a thing with them. They're cute but kind of boring tasting. Was almost going to make a smoothie out of them when I came across darling Nutella. Problem solved.

Nutrition:

• 3 spoonfuls of Ferrero Nutella = 300 Calories,1.5g fiber, 32g sugar
• saturn peach = 60 Calories, 3g fiber, 15% of daily Vitamin A, 15% of daily Vitamin C

Total Calories = 360
Decent fiber, some vitamins, sugar energy. Good deal.

Mango + Scallion Pancake

Rating: 9/10

Fried scallion pancake eaten with fresh mango. I have like a whole box of mango I need to finish \]before it goes bad, so trying to eat it with everything these days. Amazing how many things go well with mango. It's been at least two weeks and I'm still not sick of it. Here, the sweet, sour, smooth mango is a fun counterpoint to the salty, savory, chewy, crispy pancake. Each adding what the other lacks and never even thought to find. Personifying my food a bit but whatever I'm sleepy.

Nutrition:

• Ataulfo mango = 107 Calories, 3g fiber, 76% of daily Vitamin C, 25% of daily Vitamin A
• whole Chinese scallion pancake = 840 Calories, 4g fiber, 1240mg Sodium, 60% of daily Iron, 32% of daily Vitamin A

Total Calories = 947
Yeah heavy on the Calories that scallion pancake, but got in some fiber, vitamins, and minerals from it too. Plus, the mango is all about vitamins and fiber.

Pizza + Peach

Rating: 7/10

Slice of cold supreme pizza eaten with a fresh white peach. Trying to make a meal out of leftovers from earlier in the day. Normally pizza's like a 5/10 for me, so I'm always looking for something to make it a better eating experience. Well, adding the lightly sweet, juicy, crunchy peach to the chewy umami of the pizza did the job. My taste buds are satisfied. Odd since I'm not a fan of pineapple on pizza and generally don't like fruits mixed with meals. But I guess peach isn't as strong a flavor as pineapples and it just worked. The peach also sort of quenched my thirst that usually follow eating pizza while I was still eating, so two birds one stone.

Nutrition:

• slice of Pizza Hut Supreme Pizza = 280 Calories, 2g fiber, 650mg Sodium
• peach = 59 Calories, 2.2g fiber, 285mg Potassium, 16% of daily Vitamin C

Total Calories = 339

Oreo Ice Cream + Pineapple

 

Rating: 8/10

Oreo ice cream topped with (well, surrounded by, actually) fresh pineapple slices served on a plate by moi. Looked pretty cool like an oreo-centered sun. First off, pineapples are ridiculous to cut (glad I didn't have to do that part of it). Seriously, there needs to be a machine built for cutting this fruit. But anyway, the sweet, creamy, chunky ice cream plus the sweet, sour, juicy, chewy pineapple kind of rocks the summer vibes. A bit tropical island and a bit Alaskan igloo feel to it if you ask me.

Nutrition:

• scoop of oreo ice cream = 280 Calories, 1g fiber, 27g sugar, 15% of daily Calcium, 10% of Vitamin A
• 8 quarter circle slices of pineapple = 166 Calories, 362mg Potassium, 4.6g fiber, 32g sugar, 264% of daily Vitamin C, 20% of daily Vitamin B-6

Total Calories = 446
Holy Vitamin C! I'm good for two and a half days.

Watermelon Juice + Macadamia Nuts

Rating: 9/10

Drinking fresh watermelon juice while eating macadamia nuts. Unexpectedly tasty combo. A bit tropical I guess. The lightly sweet, icy, chunky watermelon juice just does something to the flavor of the smooth, crunchy, salted macadamia that makes it amazing. Maybe it enhances an aspect of the nut otherwise muted or maybe the contrast of the two gives the nut an extra kick. Whatever, it works!

Nutrition:

• cup of watermelon juice = 76 Calories, 267mg Potassium, 1g fiber, 38% of daily Vitamin C
• Savanna Orchards Gourmet Dry Roasted Macadamias (1/4 cup) = 210 Calories, 2g fiber, 115mg Sodium

Total Calories = 286
Decent dose of Vitamin C but otherwise trifles.

Hobo Bread + Cantaloupe

Rating: 7.5/10

Hobo bread chock full of molasses/raisin/walnut eaten with cubes of cantaloupe, or vice versa if you prefer. Can I just say how much I love molasses as sweetener, second only to malt powder and ways better than white sugar or honey could ever hope to taste. And the image of baking bread in a tin can over garbage fires makes me all fuzzy inside towards hobos. Anyway, the sweet, chewy, sticky bread adds a certain delightful consistency to the sweet, juicy, smooth cantaloupe. While all sweet flavors, the variety in texture makes this an interesting and surprisingly delightful mouth experience.

Longan + Goji Berries + Dragon Well Tea

Rating: 8/10

Longan fruit. Dried goji berries. Dragon Well tea leafs. Add hot water. And presto! Delicious, nutritious tea drink. Stole this concoction from my mother actually, she swears by this stuff. Longan has basically the same succulent texture of lychee but with a softer, less obnoxious taste. Goji is sweet and tart with a hint of bitter that fades into tea flavors. And really all teas tastes pretty much the same to me, so Dragon Well basically tastes like any other green tea. These three things combined make for amazing, smooth, richly flavored tea for a non-tea drinker as myself. It doesn't even have that icky bitter I despise in most teas. And I would say the actual tea leaf is what's most interchangeable here. I don't see why any other green tea won't do the trick too. Though Dragon Well does do that cool vertical floating leafs thing in water that's pretty entertaining to watch.

Young Coconut Meat + Yellow Cherry Tomatoes

Rating: 9/10

Coconut meat (scooped from a fresh young coconut I hacked to pieces for juice) eaten with yellow cherry tomatoes (ways more delectable than the red ones). The mild sweet, gelatinous coconut blends so smoothly with the juicy, sweet tartness of the tomatoes. Feel so rejuvenated eating this I can't even explain why. Yep, still on this vegetarian kick. Don't worry, not swearing off meat. Would never think of restricting what I can eat in the world. Omnivores for a reason, baby! And plan to take full advantage while I'm still young and healthy enough to enjoy food.

Nutrition:

• Asia Exotic Corp BL young coconut meat = 140 Calories, 2g fiber, 17% of daily Calcium
• Zima Seriously Sweet yellow cherry tomatoes (1 cup) = 70 Calories, 2g fiber, 80% of daily Vitamin C, 20% of daily Vitamin A

Total Calories = 210
Some fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Yay for digestion.

Banana Chips + Dark Chocolate

Rating: 7/10

Bar of dark chocolate with almonds eaten with banana chips. A bit like trail mix, minus all the other stuff. I'm no fan of the banana taste but in chip form I can tolerate. The sweet, lightly bitter, smooth bar stacks up well against the crispy, chalky, sweet chips.

Nutrition:

• 1/2 Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate With Almonds = 125 Calories, 8.5g sugar, 2g fiber, 17% of daily Iron
• 1/8 Trader Joe's Banana Chips = 160 Calories, 3g sugar, 2g fiber

Total Calories = 285
Some fiber and Iron. Eh, not terrible.

Grapes + Milk

Rating: 7.5/10

Eating grapes and drinking lactose-free milk at the same time. On a milk binge lately because this gallon I have in the fridge is expiring in 2 days and also I could use the Calcium (slightly paranoid about growing into a brittle-boned old person). Not that I'm lactose-intolerant, but this milk is sweeter maybe from the lactase enzyme added and I like it. So I'm trying to drink it with basically everything I eat right now. Fruits are not exception. And to my delight, the sweet, tart, juicy but fleshy grapes added a wonderful splash of subtle flavor to the smooth, slightly sweet but ultimately plain milk; while the milk just washes over the grape taste without dulling it completely. It's a lovely mutual effect.

Nutrition:

• handful of red grapes = 62 Calories, 15g sugar, 1g fiber, 6% of daily Vitamin C
• glass of Lactaid 1% Milk = 110 Calories, 125mg Sodium, 30% of daily Calcium, 25% of daily Vitamin D

Total Calories = 212
Cool this milk has less Calories and more Calcium than regular milk. And a handful of grapes really don't add much to my nutritional needs.

Boiled Peanuts + Kiwi

 







Rating: 6.5/10

Salt boiled peanuts eaten with fresh kiwi slices. Only kind of peanuts I like is the salty, moist boiled kind that's chewy rather than crunchy. This balanced well with the sweet and sour juicy kiwi, though it would've been better if the kiwi was in the less sour and more sweet dimension. As it was, comme ci comme ça.

Meatballs with Polenta + Pineapple

Rating: 6.5/10

Meatballs and polenta in tomato sauce eaten with slices of pineapple. I'm not a fan of combining fruits with hot dishes but I just thought I'd try it since I had both on hand. Not a bad combo, not great though. The sour, crisp and juiciness of the pineapple sort of distracted from the meatball/polenta's soft texture and savoriness, but the sweetness complemented it well. Maybe some kind of dessert like alfajores or baklava would mix better with the meatballs/polenta. Still, a worthy pairing.

Oranges + Candied Pecans

Rating: 7/10

Whole oranges eaten with candied pecans. The coming together of the sweet, slightly sour, and juicy from the orange plus the salty, sweet, and crunchy from the pecan. Hitting most of the taste buds, with sweetness dominating. Definitely warrants a redo.