Is There A Dragon In Your Smoothie?

Want to add a burst of color and nutrition to your morning smoothie? Then consider adding dragon fruit to your next blender mix.

Dragon Fruit, otherwise known as Pitaya (pronounced pee-ty-uh), is a brightly colored fruit from a climbing cactus plant.  It’s common in southern Asia and is starting to make an appearance here in the U.S.

It is a bright magenta-pink exterior with green leaves that look a bit like dragon scales (thus it’s nickname). The interior can be white, green or magenta, all speckled with tiny seeds.  This wild looking fruit comes with a punch of nutrients, too: vitamin C, high fiber, B-vitamins, magnesium and omega-3’s from the seeds.

If you can find one in your grocery store (or Asian market), simply cut open, remove the peel and eat the speckled flesh.  It has a mild taste similar to kiwi or melon. Another way – and a much easier way! - to get some Pitaya in your life is to add some to your smoothie by buying it in frozen smoothie packs in your grocery store’s frozen fruit section. Look for the PitayaPlus brand (which is raw, organic, non-GMO, and no added sweetener) or ask your store manager if they’ll start to carry it. Here’s a recipe to get you started. Why not try adding a little dragon to your day?

Blend the following ingredients until desired consistency: 

Dragon Fruit Smoothie

8 oz. coconut water

½ cup pitaya or 1 frozen pitaya packet

1 banana

½ cup plain Greek yogurt

large handful of spinach

4 ice cubes

*add more or less coconut water to adjust consistency