Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

🍴 10-minute recipe Bo La Lot with a leaf you’ve never cooked before!

• 🌮 Forget boring tacos - this wrap will blow your mind! In Vietnam they call it Bo La Lot - beef wrapped in peppery Lalot leaves.
• 🌮 It started as grape leaf wraps in the Middle East, but in tropical Asia grapes don’t grow, so people swapped to Lalot. Way more flavor than grape leaves!
• 🌮 Grilled beef, garlic, onion, lemongrass - all can be tucked into these shiny green leaves. Smoky, juicy, and so good you’ll wonder why you didn't try it sooner! It's better than grape leaf wraps, because it has so much flavor!
• 🌮 Most large leaf pepper plants will work for this recipe - Vietnamese pepper Lalot (Piper sarmentosum), Betel Leaf (Piper betle), or even large leaves of the traditional Black Pepper plant (Piper nigrum).

🌯 BO LA LOT RECIPE

✔️ Ingredients

• · 1 pound ground beef or turkey
• · 2 tablespoons chopped lemongrass (optional)
• · 1 tbsp spice powder
• · 1 tbsp curry powder
• · 1 tbsp finely minced garlic
• · 1 tbsp oyster sauce or fish sauce (optional)
• · 1 tsp ground black pepper
• · 1 tbsp finely minced shallots
• · 1 tbsp soy sauce
• · 2 tsp sugar or honey
• · 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• · 1/2 tbsp salt
• · 10-15 fresh Lalot leaves

• 👉 Directions

• · Preheat the grill.
• · Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix well.
• · Wrap about 2 tablespoons of the mixture into each betel leaf.
• · Spear 3 to 4 betel leaf wraps onto a skewer and grill until the meat is thoroughly cooked.
• · Be sure to eat immediately.

🛒 Grow Leaf Pappers for tasty, peppery recipes

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️Lalot beef wraps: Quick-n-Fun exotic recipes
• ▫️Vietnamese Pepper - Lalot food wraps BBQ recipe
• ▫️How to grow your own Pepper plants. Five most valuable Pipers
• ▫️How to to get Pepper leaves large and green

📱 Growing Lalot Pepper

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🍴 Moringa omelet: quick-n-fun exotic recipes

• 🟡Whisk eggs with chopped Moringa leaves, garlic, and a dash of soy sauce.
• 🟡Pour into a hot pan with some cooking oil and cook for a minute or two until fluffy and golden.
• 🟡A green power-packed breakfast!

Moringa Omelet

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup fresh Moringa leaves (chopped)
• 1 small onion (chopped)
• 1 tomato (diced)
• 1 clove garlic (minced)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp oil or butter

Instructions

1. Beat the eggs in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.
2. Heat oil in a pan, sauté onion, garlic, and tomato until soft.
3. Add the chopped Moringa leaves and cook for 1 minute.
4. Pour in the beaten eggs and cook until set, flipping once.
5. Serve hot with rice or bread.

🛒 Plant Moringa tree and harvest superfood year around

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🍴 Dragon fruit coconut parfait: quick-n-fun exotic recipes

• 🔵Layer Dragon Fruit cubes with coconut cream and toasted granola.
• 🔵A tropical breakfast that looks neon and tastes fresh!

Dragon fruit coconut parfait recipe

Ingredients

• 1 fresh Dragon Fruit, diced into cubes
• 1 cup coconut cream
• 1/2 cup toasted granola
• Optional: honey or maple syrup for drizzle

Instructions

1. Layer Dragon Fruit cubes in a glass or bowl.
2. Add a layer of coconut cream, then sprinkle toasted granola.
3. Repeat layers until glass is full, finishing with granola on top.
4. Serve immediately for a refreshing tropical breakfast or snack.

🛒 Explore Dragon Fruit varieties

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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🍴 Ackee breakfast scramble: quick-n-fun exotic recipes

• 🔴Saute boiled Akee with onions, tomatoes, and Scotch Bonnet, Wiri Wiri or Biquinho pepper.
• 🔴A Jamaican classic that looks like scrambled eggs but tastes buttery and rich! 🍲

Ackee breakfast scramble recipes

Ingredients

• 2 cups boiled Ackee (Blighia sapida)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 1-2 hot peppers (Scotch Bonnet, Wiri Wiri, or Biquinho), sliced
• 1 tbsp oil or butter
• Salt to taste

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a skillet. Saute onion until soft.
2. Add tomatoes and sliced hot peppers, cook for 2 minutes.
3. Gently fold in the boiled ackee, stir carefully to avoid breaking it up.
4. Season with salt, cook until heated through, then serve warm.

🛒 Grow your own Akee fruit (banned for import) and hot peppers

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🍴 Banana cinnamon fritters: Quick-n-Fun exotic recipes 🍌

• 🟡Dip banana slices in a light batter, fry quickly, then dust with cinnamon sugar.
• 🟡Sweet street-food style snack!

Banana Cinnamon Fritters recipe

Ingredients

• 2 ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup water (or milk)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• Oil for frying
• Extra cinnamon sugar for dusting

Instructions

1. Slice bananas into thick rounds.
2. Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and water to form a light batter.
3. Dip banana slices in batter and fry in hot oil until golden brown.
4. Remove and drain on paper towels.
5. Dust with cinnamon sugar and serve warm.

🛒 For home grown ingredients you will need:
Banana trees
Cinnamon tree

#Food_Forest #Recipes #Bananas

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🍴 Passion fruit fizz: Quick-n-Fun exotic recipes 🍹

• 
  🔴Scoop passion fruit pulp into sparkling water with a squeeze of orange juice.
• 🔴A bubbly, tangy tropical soda!
• 🔴You may add a plash of Rum (optional)

🛒

Passion fruit fizz recipes

Ingredients

• 2 passion fruits (pulp scooped)
• 1 cup sparkling water
• 1 tbsp orange juice
• (Optional) 1 shot rum

Instructions

1. Scoop passion fruit pulp into a glass.
2. Add sparkling water and orange juice, stir gently.
3. Optionally add a splash of rum.
4. Serve chilled with an orange slice garnish.

Shop Passion fruit plants

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🍴 Canistel custard toast: Quick-n-Fun exotic recipes

• 🟡Mash Canistel (Eggfruit) with a bit of cream and cinnamon, spread on toast, and broil until golden.
• 🟡Like dessert for breakfast!

Canistel Custard Toast: Exotic Recipes

Ingredients

• 1 ripe Canistel (Eggfruit), mashed
• 2 tbsp cream
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 slices of bread

Instructions

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Mash Canistel with cream and cinnamon until smooth.
3. Spread mixture on bread slices.
4. Broil until golden and slightly caramelized.
5. Serve warm, like dessert for breakfast.

🛒 Plant your own Canistel tree

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🍴 Jackfruit curry quickie: Quick-n-Fun exotic recipes

• 
  🟡Saute young Jackfruit chunks with coconut milk, curry paste, and ginger.
• 🟡Tastes like pulled chicken curry, but totally plant-based!

🍲 Jackfruit curry exotic recipes

Ingredients

• 2 cups young Jackfruit chunks
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 2 tbsp curry paste
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

Instructions

1. Saute young Jackfruit chunks with curry paste and ginger.
2. Add coconut milk and simmer until the Jackfruit is tender.
3. Serve hot. Tastes like pulled chicken curry, but completely plant-based!

🛒 Shop Jackfruit varieties

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🍃 Watch this before cooking with black pepper!

Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is famous for its berries, but the leaves are edible too, and in some regions they’re used just like betel leaves or bay leaves. Here are a few ways you can use them:

• Cooking wrap: Fresh leaves can be used to wrap fish, meat, or rice before steaming or grilling, similar to banana or betel leaves. They add a mild peppery aroma.
• Flavoring curries and soups: Whole leaves can be simmered in curries, broths, or stews to infuse a gentle peppery note, then removed before serving (like bay leaves).
• Herbal teas: Fresh or dried leaves can be steeped with ginger, turmeric, or lemongrass to make a warming tea traditionally used for digestion and colds.
• Chutneys and pastes: In South India, young pepper leaves are ground with coconut, tamarind, and chilies to make a tangy chutney.
• Medicinal uses: Folk remedies use the leaves for coughs, sore throats, and as a poultice for muscle aches.

🍛 Black pepper leaf chutney

• ♨️Lightly saute 6-8 pepper leaves in a little oil.
• ♨️Blend with 1/2 cup grated coconut, 2 green chilies, tamarind, salt, and cumin.
• ♨️Optional: top with a quick tempering of mustard seeds and curry leaves.
• ♨️Serve with rice or dosa.

☕️ Pepper leaf tea - when you feel under the weather

• Boil 2-3 leaves with a cup of water.
• Add a slice of ginger and a pinch of turmeric (optional).
• Simmer 5 minutes, strain, and sweeten with honey.

Both recipes give a warm, peppery aroma without being too spicy. Pepper leaves are milder than the berries, so you’ll get aroma more than heat.

🛒 Grow your own Black Pepper plant - spice and vegetable!

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️ What is Pepper Made From? Black, white, green, and red...
• ▫️How to grow your own Pepper plants. Five most valuable 'Pipers'

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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