By Chelsea Fyrberg

Is Chinese Gooseberry a common item on your grocery list? Probably not, since this fuzzy little brown fruit was renamed kiwifruit in the 1950’s. But if kiwi isn’t a staple food in your household, you might want to start making one.  

Kiwi is a well-rounded fruit when it comes to vitamins and minerals. Packing twice the amount of vitamin C of an equivalent serving of oranges, it serves up a whopping 1.5 times the daily-recommended intake of vitamin C in just one fruit. A medium-sized kiwi has 215 mg of potassium, comparable to what’s provided by a medium-size banana. Kiwifruit is also a good source of magnesium, vitamin A and folate, and its little black seeds are rich sources of the important Omega-3 essential fatty acid.

And forget the tedious skin peeling – it takes too long and frankly it’s just a pain in the you-know-what. What’s more, the skin of a medium-size kiwi will give you upwards of 2 grams of dietary fiber. If you’re not a fan of the skin’s peach-like fuzz it can be rubbed off before eating, making it similar to the skin of a Bosc pear. Mind you, you still want to wash the skin of your kiwi before eating it, but unlike a number of other fruits, there is no need to buy organic kiwi to avoid pesticides. The Environmental Working Group listed kiwifruit among the15 foods that are least contaminated by pesticides and herbicides.

Easy on the wallet, big on fiber, and putting oranges and bananas to shame, the kiwifruit is a nutritional powerhouse that deserves a spot in your grocery basket, and in your fruit bowl. So pick some up the next time you are at the market!

Kiwis are a great snack simply sliced and served.  But you can also add them to smoothies, fresh juices, or fruit salads.  They even add a delightful sweet note to green salads.  Serve sliced kiwi on top of frozen yogurt.  Add pureed kiwi, and a few kiwi slices, to your kids’ lemonade for a fun flavorful fruit punch; or to your fave margarita recipe!