Raw Foods Diet & Raw Food Weight Loss Blog

I’m fairly sure that we’ve covered how to *open* a  young coconut (also known as a Thai coconut). It seems like each raw food site has a video and/or article about that. I think it’s actually a commandment in the Official Raw Foodism Bylaws somewhere: “Thou shalt show everyone how to open a coconut.”

But *selecting* them… that’s something that’s not often covered in-depth. It’s an advanced topic — super-advanced, even. So, are you ready to learn the secrets?

Here in Portland, we had to search around town quite a bit to find a decent, affordable source. As produce goes, young coconuts are not the most common item and, as such, can really confound people when it comes to (1) finding them, (2) finding *good* ones, and (3) not paying an arm and a leg for them.

As of this writing, prices vary widely in our market. At the gourmet stores (think Whole Foods or New Seasons), they run upwards of $5 each(!), which is probably twice what you can get them for elsewhere. After searching around, we found a source for $2.48 each — affordable, but still more than we once paid in Pittsburgh. (Our co-op there offered them for about $1.50 each a few years back, as long as you bought a case of nine.)

Hopefully, you’ll find a source that offers a decent selection from which to choose, and at affordable prices. Really, the purpose of this article is two-fold: (1) to encourage you to eat more healthy young coconuts, and (2) to help you save money while doing so. If you have to spend $4 for a coconut, then you really should be doing all you can to get the best coconut possible and avoid having to throw it out.  After all, if you toss out a $4 coconut because it’s bad, then that means your next coconut is really an $8 coconut — and that’s plain crazy!

Before beginning, let me just say that I realize some young coconuts (e.g., ones I’ve seen in the D.C. area) are available still in their hard, greenish or yellowish shells.  In my experience, this is unusual in the U.S.  If you can find them this way, then I’d say you’re likely getting some fresher coconuts than the Thai ones — possibly domestically grown. (In Florida, it was easy to find them still with their shells. Many people there will gladly give you coconuts right from their trees, in fact! And, oooooh, friends, fresh-from-the-tree coconuts are divine!)  Here’s yours truly doing a little coconut juggling with some full, whole-green-shell, beauties:

Outside of the southern U.S., though, you’ll commonly find young coconuts pre-husked and looking more like this (except that they’ll be wrapped in plastic):

Here’s my process for selecting them:

• I look at each and every coconut that the store has on display! The Asian market I go to has a fairly large case of them, so this takes time, commitment, and the ability to maintain a complete disregard for what others surely think of me as I inspect every inch of every coconut. The display case is low to the ground at our store, so I sometimes wind up crouched down low, not infrequently sitting directly on the floor — which, granted, is weird and likely unacceptable in all venues. But, as I said, you have to have commitment to the cause.
• In the coconut world, white is the best. You really want to look for the whitest, brightest specimens — with as little discoloration as possible. (This isn’t always possible, though, so don’t panic if you can’t find a “perfect” one.)
• Look at the bottoms. Do you see large fissures or holes?  Avoid these ones! I’ve taken chances on a few, but have been burned a few times, too. It’s best to avoid the ones with fissures, if possible.
• Again with the bottoms:  Do you see mold anywhere?  Avoid these ones, too! Personally, I won’t eat a coconut if it shows mold on the outside. This is a zero-tolerance area for me.
• The bottoms are often much softer than the rest — and this is generally acceptable. But, if it’s *too* soft, it could mean a bad coconut. Make sure to feel a lot of them and you’ll develop a feel for what’s acceptable and what is not. But, really, color usually trumps everything else. If it’s nice and white everywhere, then it’ll generally be nice and white inside, too.
• Look at the sides.  Again, the whiter the better. As they age, I find that they tend to yellow a bit. I commonly find a bit of yellowing at stores — and I’ll often take a chance on a few of them. But, ideally, it’ll have little to no browning anywhere.
• The tops, again, are ideally as white as possible. You’ll find that the tops will be among the first parts of a coconut to go brown with a bit of age. The husk is thinner here, and it really is a good indication of freshness to find one that’s as non-discolored as possible. But, really, I’ll take a chance on one that’s slightly discolored on top if it passes all of my other tests.
• If you see small bits of green here and there, don’t panic — that’s usually just tiny pieces of the original shell that they did not fully cut off.
• Look everywhere for pink. If you see pink, don’t buy that coconut, as it’ll almost certainly be a bad one. Unlike Molly Ringwald, coconuts are not Pretty in Pink.

Once you’ve purchased your coconuts, they’ll generally stay good for a week or two in your refrigerator. Ideally, a coconut will have bright white inner flesh, and relatively clear to slightly milky water.  My own rule is to consume them as long as they’re not pinkish (or any darker) inside. Occasionally, you’ll find ones that are mostly water and hardly any flesh. These generally appear somewhat darker inside since they do not have much white flesh there, but may still be okay to consume. If you get one of those, just taste the water to see if it tastes acceptable. But, again, if you see pink flesh, you should just write that one off.

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Photo Credit: Young coconut photo by The DLC on Flickr (Creative Commons).

Following up on yesterday’s post, today we’re going to take a look at the “Clean 15.” These are the 15 produce items that, according to research done by the Environmental Working Group, contain the least amount of residual pesticides (even though they’re still grown using pesticides).

What this boils down to is:  IF you’re going to eat conventionally grown produce, these items will harm you much less than those we covered yesterday. So, here’s the list, and then we’ll try to come up with a sentence to help you (and us) remember everything:

1. Onions
2. Avocados
3. Sweet corn*
4. Pineapple
5. Mangoes
6. Sweet peas
7. Asparagus
8. Kiwi
9. Cabbage
10. Eggplant
11. Cantaloupe
12. Watermelon
13. Grapefruit
14. Sweet potato
15. Honeydew

* We inserted the asterisk after corn because, even though it may rank well in terms of residual pesticides, we’re not going to include it on our version of this list.

So, as far as Pure Jeevan is concerned, it’s really the “Clean 14.” We’ll explain why tomorrow.

For now, let’s continue with the mnemonic device.

1. Only (Onions)
2. A (Avocados)
3. Perfect (Pineapple)
4. Mate (Mangoes)
5. Shares (Sweet peas)
6. A (Asparagus)
7. Kiss; (Kiwi)
8. Cuddle (Cabbage)
9. Every (Eggplant)
10. Chance (Cantaloupe)
11. We (Watermelon)
12. Get, (Grapefruit)
13. Sweet (Sweet potato)
14. Heart! (Honeydew)

Okay, so the sentence is:  ”Only A Perfect Mate Shares A Kiss; Cuddle Every Chance We Get, Sweet Heart!” (Just be careful walking through the produce aisle alone, mumbling that, as it may draw some unusual attention.)

The Environmental Working Group publishes something really useful called the Shoppers Guide to Pesticides. In it, they offer two handy lists: (1) The Dirty Dozen — conventionally grown produce items that contain the most residual pesticides, and (2) The Clean 15 — conventionally grown produce items that contain the least residual pesticides.

While we believe that organic is always best, there nonetheless are times when most of us (for whatever reason) consider purchasing or consuming conventionally grown (meaning “sprayed with pesticides”) produce.

So, it’s good to commit these lists to memory — and we’re going to share a super-easy way to do that! Today, let’s conquer the Dirty Dozen. These are the absolute worse, most pesticide-laden food items you can buy. So, obviously, you pretty much never want to eat any of the following, unless they’re organic:

1. Celery
2. Peaches
3. Strawberries
4. Apples
5. Blueberries
6. Nectarines
7. Bell peppers
8. Spinach
9. Cherries
10. Kale (and collard greens)
11. Potatoes
12. Grapes

Okay, so how can you remember these?  Well, you probably already know most of them.  So, step one is to just read the list a few times.

It also couldn’t hurt to put together a mnemonic device, such as a sentence to remind you of the items. If there’s one thing everyone hangs on to from grade school, it’s: “My Very Elegant Mother Just Served Us Nine Pies” (for remembering the planets, in order), right?

So, since we’re also going to be doing this tomorrow for the “good guys,” let’s try to come up with something rather negative in tone here, to help us remember that our sentence will be reminding us of the Dirty Dozen. (Tomorrow’s sentence can be upbeat for the Clean 15.)  Okay, here’s my best shot:

1. Corporate     (Celery)
2. Pesticides     (Peaches)
3. Scare     (Strawberries)
4. Away     (Apples)
5. Beautiful     (Blueberries)
6. Nature …      (Nectarines)
7. Bad     (Bell Peppers)
8. Science     (Spinach)
9. Carelessly     (Cherries)
10. Kills     (Kale and Collard Greens)
11. Pretty     (Potatoes)
12. Greens     (Grapes)

So, now when you’re grocery shopping and you need to remember what to avoid if it’s not organic, simply repeat to yourself: “Corporate Pesticides Scare Away Beautiful Nature…Bad Science Carelessly Kills Pretty Greens.” That should help you remember to avoid nonorganic Celery, Peaches, Strawberries, Apples, Blueberries, Nectarines, Bell Peppers, Spinach, Cherries, Kale and Collard Greens, Potatoes, and Grapes!

Well, it’s a starting point.  Feel free to suggest alternatives here in the comments, or on Facebook. Tomorrow we’ll return with the Clean 15 — and, you guessed it, another mnemonic device.

I suppose that, when you buy more produce than the average consumer, you come to observe a thing or two about that produce. We can’t say for sure that our assertion is 100% true, but it sure does seem true to us. You see, we’ve noticed that produce we purchase at farmers’ markets tends to keep longer than store-bought. Give it a try yourself, and see if your produce stays fresher longer!

Of course, there are many other benefits to shopping at farmers’ markets. Aside from the produce being able to stay fresh longer, you’re getting it in a much fresher state than store-bought. So, the things you eat first will be “extra” fresh tasting.

It’s also nice to be able to talk with the farmers, and friendly to your local economy when you support local farmers. (We support the organic ones — and they seem to outnumber the conventional ones here in Portland.) Plus, with no middle-man, there should theoretically be a cost savings. Here in Portland, there is an enormous weekly market called the Saturday Market. Wendi and Bailey shopped there regularly last fall after moving here.

I’ve been once this year, and was impressed by it. I would remark that it’s so large of an operation here that it seems almost a little trendy as compared with smaller markets I’ve visited across the country, which made for prices more directly comparable to grocery stores than I thought or hoped would be the case. However, with enough shopping around, the deals were indeed there.

Another tip for farmers’ markets is to *bring a large bag with you*!! Here in Portland, the market is so popular that parking is an issue; you’ll likely be “hoofing it” for many blocks, which is fun going there and not so enjoyable returning with many little bags of heavy produce.

And, speaking of bags, it’s also a good idea to get yourself a bunch of thicker plastic bags in which to store your vegetables in your fridge when you get home. Farmers’ market sellers don’t always offer bags like grocery store produce aisles have — and good bags are an essential component for preserving produce in your fridge.  (We covered Produce Storage a while back, and in great depth! You can find that blog post here.)

Mmmmmmmmm!  I’m sitting here at my computer eating the Best Organic Fuji Apple Ever. Don’t believe me?  Here’s a picture of the apple I’m eating right now:

Looks dee-lish, right?  (Okay, so maybe it’s not the most appetizing pic in the world…)  Anyway, one interesting thing about this apple is that I bought it (a whole big bag of them, actually) because it was so cheap. (I’m on a relatively tight budget these days.)  But, if it was so cheap, how could it be so tasty?  (And organic, too!) Well, that’s where the basic law of supply and demand come in. Whenever a crop is at the peak of its season, the supply rises considerably. Instead of the store receiving X number of bushels of apples, they receive 5X or more. So, they slash prices to move that kind of volume.

The amazing thing, though, is that the influx of certain types of produce probably means that you’re getting the items at their peak. So, when it’s at its best, it’s also at its cheapest! It’s a simple point, really, but one that I tend to forget quite a lot. I’m going to make an effort now, though, to always buy a bag of the cheapest apples each week. I’ll let you know in a month or so whether these apples seem to be better than normal. I like the theory here, although I’ll admit it’s just something to test out.

Fall is always a natural time to go apple-crazy, though. I eat them all year round, but I particularly crave them in the autumn. We had a little bonfire here in our backyard last weekend — a little “raw dessert” kind of get-together. For my contribution, I simply cut up about 10 (cored) apples, poured some fresh-squeezed orange juice on top (to help keep them from turning brown), added a few cups of chopped walnuts, added some apple pie spices (clove powder, nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon), drizzled some agave nectar on top (yes, we still consume agave nectar here), and tossed in a pinch of salt. Then I stirred it all up and served it. (Wendi makes this, or something similar, quite a lot for breakfast. Let me tell you, it’s so good, you can eat it as a meal!)

So, go apple crazy!! And, let me know if my theory holds true in your area, too!