Celebrating A Milestone with "Vegetable/Fruit A Month" event !!!

Hello friends,


Another new day but there is something great about this post, can you take a guess? Come on, you already read the title of the post, so I gave it away already, didn't I?


Well, this is my 100th post today and I am so very proud of it. I have seen my blog friends celebrating it in many ways, a sweet or savory dish. I would like to celebrate it by announcing an event.


We all either already know or have heard about various benefits of fruits and vegetables in our day-to-day lives. Yes, yes yes, you will say, it is old. But, it can never get old news. These colorful veggies and fruits can help us fight almost all diseases you can think of on the face of the earth from as simple as a common cold and as complicated as chronic cancer. 


There are many studies done on the what should be ideal serving and how much and many such facts. There is lots of information available over net and every group which does surveys or research has their own measurements. But, whichever group or organization it is, they all say one thing in common. We should take multiple servings of fruits and vegetables in day. Whether we take them in raw form or cooked, doesn't matter. We should eat them. Of course less processing of the veggie or fruit is better for health.


Now, with all that blabbering let's talk about my event. I am starting a monthly event "Vegetable/Fruit A Month" starting this month which would feature a veggie and a fruit a month. So, every month, we will feature a veggie or a fruit and share delicious recipes made out of our star ingredients. We will try to pick the veggie/fruit that is in season so that everyone can buy and cook it easily. Fruits and veggies will be selected in alternate months, for e.g., I am starting with Avocados (a fruit) and next month we wil feature a vegetable. While announcing this event, the host will also describe the benefits and details of the fruit/veggie.


We are kicking off this event with a FRUIT. This month, the STAR fruit is AVOCADO.


(Source: Wikipedia)


The avocado (Persea americana), aguacate or palta (Spanish, from Nahuatl and Quechua respectively), butter pear or alligator pear, is a tree native to the Caribbean, Mexico, South America and Central America, classified in the flowering plant family Lauraceae along with cinnamon, camphor and bay laurel. The name "avocado" also refers to the fruit (technically a large berry that contains a large seed) of the tree which may be egg-shaped or spherical.


Avocados are a commercially valuable fruit and are cultivated in tropical climates throughout the world (and some temperate ones, such as California), producing a green-skinned, pear-shaped fruit that ripens after harvesting. Trees are partially self-pollinating and often are propagated through grafting to maintain a predictable quality and quantity of the fruit. Avocados are perennial.


High avocado intake has been shown to have a beneficial effect on blood serum cholesterol levels. Specifically, after a seven-day diet rich in avocados, hypercholesterolemia patients showed a 17% decrease in total serum cholesterol levels. These subjects also showed a 22% decrease in both LDL (harmful cholesterol) and triglyceride levels and 11% increase in HDL (helpful cholesterol) levels.


Avocado is also known to promote healthy skin and hair. Although many people use it as a facial mask, it is most beneficial when eaten.


 
(Pic Source: http://www.avocado.org/avocado-variety-browser#Hass)


There are few rules of this event:

• The chosen veggie or fruit has to be the STAR of the recipe.
• It can be cooked in any way or can be in its raw form in the recipe. 
• It can be any course of the meal (appatizer/main course/side dish/dessert/beverage or breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack).
• Recipe has to be strict vegetarian (eggs are allowed). This is simply to re-inforce the fact that we can eat veggies without any meat and also for all our vegetarian friends, who do not eat meat.
• You HAVE to make new recipes and old archived posts are not allowed. This is just so that we try and make new fresh recipes :)
• Please send in your entries before end of June 30th 2010.
• If you are a blogger, you can simply send your Name and URL of your recipe at priya DOT mitharwal AT gmail DOT com with the subject of "Veggie/Fruit A Month - Avocado".
• Non bloggers can email me your name, recipe and picture at priya DOT mitharwal AT gmail DOT com with the subject of "Veggie/Fruit A Month - Avocado". 
• You can choose any kind of fruit/veggie that is featured. Feel free to mention the variety if you know.
• Always try to buy and use locally grown veggie and fruits :)

Please feel free to send any suggestions or feedback on the event or if you have any questions regarding any of the rules.


As I plan to make this a regular monthly event, I would love to have some volunteers to host this every month.