The Ardent Epicure

What exactly is Pitaya+ you may be asking...? It is a juice made from the the
Pitaya fruit or more commonly know as the Dragon Fruit. This juice is USDA
organically certified and made with 100% juice, no added sugar, high in
fiber, vitamin D3 and rich in antioxidants. The +...? An addition of
coconut water that lands this juice at the top of hydrating
refreshments with a light delicious flavor.

This juice is all natural with a beautifully balanced flavor and a gorgeous deep
magenta color. For me this means not only a refreshing healthy drink, but
perhaps a lively and nutritious way to liven up some other dishes :)

So, what of this delightful juices "Social Mission"...? To start off with I will
just highlight a few of the impressive details for me about this mission but
more details can be found on their site that I will link for you.

 *They operate out of a soloar powered factory

    *The founder Chuck Casano works directly with
             producers and co-ops inspecting fruit personally.

*They support impoverished  local families of
      Nicaragua by creating a work environment
 for single mothers, paying them
above minimum wage.

         *Their main goal  is, to show the world that you
             don’t need high amounts of added sugar for
     food and beverages to taste good.

Product images courtesy of PitayaPlus


As for our rice, we started off with a specialty rice known as Jade Pearl.
This rice is infused with bamboo extract from the Moso species bamboo.
Once prepared this rice gives off a wonderful aroma of bamboo that
 has light essences of vanilla. A perfect choice of balanced flavors
against our Pitaya juice


Our salt and pepper are worthy of a mention as well. Here we have
a Black Lava Sea Salt which contains activated coconut-shell charcoal.
This salt has a wonderfully smokey flavor and onyx like crystals

Our pepper Penja Pepper "Pepper from Paradise" has a delicate
and velvety flavor with woody-musky notes.

I also came across some organic raw sun-dried coconut. A shredded
un-sweetened coconut that adds a bit of crunch and draws out
the coconut flavors of our Pitaya juice.


What you will need:
1 cup jade pearl Rice
1 1/2 cups pitaya juice
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup raw coconut, shaved
1 teaspoon black lave salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Penja Pepper, ground
Warm coconut oil for drizzle, optional

*Note: You can do this recipe substituting rice, salt and pepper
for more traditional varieties if above ingredients are not available to you.


Let's get cooking:
Begin by bringing un-rinsed jade pear rice, pitaya juice and lemon juice
to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low, simmer for 20 minutes.
Allow to stand away from heat for a couple of minutes, fluff with
a fork and distribute to individual plates or serving dish.

Sprinkle each dish with desired amount of salt and pepper. Then top
with raw coconut shavings. Drizzle with warm coconut oil if
 desired and serve warm.
Makes 3 cups cooked rice.

For more information on Pitaya Plus visit their website here.
Or follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

*Disclaimer: I received a free case of Pitaya+ to try, with no restrictions
or further requests. My choice to do both a post and recipe with this
 product was my own, as well as my opinions related to this product.


Enjoy~
Alisha ~ Magic of Spice