Here are some exotic fruits and vegetables that may have never made it into your shopping cart:
Cherimoya
Also referred to as the custard apple, these heart-shaped fruits have an inedible green textured skin. Cherimoyas have a rich consistency despite having little dietary fat and also supply some vitamin C. They have a unique flavor described as a cross between a banana and a pineapple, with a hint of mango and papaya as well.
Sea Beans
Sea beans don't grow or live underwater. Instead the plant grows near salt marshes and in coastal regions. They have a very salty, citrusy flavor. Also called samphire, sea beans are slender green spindles with a crunchy texture to them. They can be eaten raw or placed on top of a salad or into a stir-fry.
Chayote Squash
This squash is also known as a vegetable pear, a christophine or a mirliton. It has a pear shape and smooth apple-green skin that you peel off. When you cut open a chayote squash, there's a pit inside that is edible. The vegetable has a mild taste similar to a cross between a zucchini and a cucumber. Used raw or cooked, the gourd is available year-round and can be grated over a salad or roasted, steamed, grilled, baked or stuffed.
Pummelo
The largest citrus fruit there is. It sometimes called the Chinese grapefruit and has also been referred to as the shaddock. Firm and round, pummelos are the size of cantaloupe or larger and sport a yellow-green skin. Their rind is thicker than a grapefruit and their juicy red or white flesh is even more segmented and sweeter.
Star Fruit
Also known as a carombola, the star fruit has a waxy, yellow-green skin and lots of interesting angles. These tropical wonders have long been cultivated throughout Southeast Asia and are now grown in south Florida and Hawaii.
Gai Lan
Also known as Chinese broccoli or Chinese kale, gai lan has dark green leaves, slender stalks and small white flowers. This Asian vegetable cooks quickly and can be steamed, stir-fried, sautéed or boiled. Gai lan is leafier, thinner and sharper in flavor than traditional green broccoli. It also boasts similar amounts of vitamins A and C and potassium.
Ugli Fruit
Beneath a mottled greenish-yellow skin and strange shape lies a surprisingly sweet and juicy orangey flesh with few seeds. The outside skin is thick, as are the membranes inside the fruit. But you can extract the fruit by cutting the sections with a knife, and then eating them as you would a grapefruit.
Dandelion Greens
Although gardeners may look on the yellow-flowered dandelion with disdain, cooks view its leaves with delight. Recognizable by the leaves' jagged edges, dandelion is a bitter-tasting green that's packed with beta-carotene (vitamin A).