Avocado

Peanut butter & jelly.  Peas & carrots.  Chocolate & avocado.

Who knew that chocolate and avocado were such a power couple?  Emily Levenson, thank you for introducing us to chocolate avocado pudding, a.k.a. chocamole.

P.S. Looking for some more chocolate & avocado ideas?  How about avocado chocolate mousse cake or avocado chocolate fudge?

P.P.S. Our deepest apologies to Mr. Warhol, who would never have supported pudding without the mass production.

Satsuma

Welcome to our first installment of Your Ultimate Cartoon Connection Adventure (YUCCA)!  Say hello to our first adventurer, Eugene Wu, who is an incredible artist, fruit lover, and early Kale Crusader.  Take it away, Eugene! 

Sat-sumo can withstand multiple bouts with the cold and emerge victorious.  Also known as the cold hearty mandarin, his loose leathery skin hides a heart of gold, tender, juicy, tangy insides....mmmm....

Sat-sumo spends a lot of time hanging with his brother Clementine's close friends.  But really, he's best seen doing his own thang, eaten by the bushel!

P.S. Would you like to be the next YUCCA guest cartoonist on Kale Crusaders?  Reach out on Twitter or email us.

Banana

Bananas are the Swiss Army Knife of the culinary world.*

The internet has not been the same since Gena Hamshaw of Choosing Raw introduced Banana Soft Serve to the world back in 2009.  Some of our favorite variations include PB Chocolate Chip Banana Ice Cream by Cupcakes and Kale and Banana & Chocolate Soft Serve by Cadry's Kitchen.

* Here are a few other uses of this jack of all trades:
How do ripen an avocado in a jiffy?  Place it in a paper bag along with a banana.
What do you do if your bananas are too ripe?  Bake banana bread.
Do you want to replace eggs in your baked good?  Mix in a mashed banana.
Do you want to reduce the oil in your baked good? Mix in a mashed banana.
Do you want some bon bons, stat?  Slice bananas, coat with melted chocolate, and freeze.

Groundnut

Happy Groundnut Day, kids!  According to legend, if Mr. Groundnut sees his shadow it means six more weeks of winter for us.  Luckily, nuts don't have very good eyesight.

In the meantime, you can keep warm with Kenyan ugali with peanut stew, spicy peanut chaat, and Thai pizza.

Dragon Fruit

Happy Lunar New Year!  Dragon Fruit loves this time of the year, especially the dragon dance.  Although Dragon Fruit is not served as part of a traditional New Year's meal, it can be enjoyed au naturale, in a salad, or as a dessert.

P.S. Back in 2011, The New York Times covered Dragon Fruit's "knack for getting noticed."

Chickpea II

Happy 2013 2014!  In 2013 we were a bit under the weather, but today we're back with some new cartoons.  We are playing around with the idea of cartooning some of your favorite underrepresented foods in new situations, including the recipes of talented food bloggers.

As you may already know, chickpeas lurk in the darndest places, including this Quickie Tomato Soup by Kathy Patalsky of Healthy. Happy. Life.  Legumes, potatoes, cauliflower, and nuts provide some pretty sneaky and delicious ways to add creaminess to soups without actually adding cream.

Clementine

The next time you wonder if it's an appropriate time of day to eat a clementine, refer to the chart above.  And if you're wondering how to pack enough clementine into your system, here are some hints:

Breakfast: Ambrosia Breakfast Bowl
Lunch: Clementine Ginger Almond Rice
Snack: Creamsicle Smoothie
Dinner: Clementine Teriyaki
Dessert: Clementine, Basil and Lime Sorbet

Freekeh

What do you get when regular old Wheat and Freekeh (a.k.a. Green Wheat) switch places for a Friday and learn a tender lesson at the end of the day?  Freaky Friday might have gone through many remakes, but none like this.

Among the crazy fish-out-of-water scenarios, Freekeh finds himself in delicious dishes, including kabocha squash stuffed with roasted green wheat and peppers, freekeh tabbouleh, freekeh with mixed vegetables, and freekeh breakfast pudding.  Happy Friday!

Okra

Happy Chanukah!  What's not to love about a holiday that involves fried food (latkes), spinning tops (dreidels), and playing with fire (lighting candles)?

Please don't light Okra on fire (although roasted okra is pretty tasty), since he lends himself to both spinning and frying (okra fritters are kind of like okra latkes).  If you are looking for something a little less fried, check out pickled okra, sweet and sour okra, or quick stir-fried okra with fresh tomatoes and turmeric.  Happy eating!

Winners

After a great deal of back and forth, a few tears, and finally a lot of hugging it out, we are proud to announce Rambutan and Ghost Pepper as the Halloween Costume Parade winners! 

When Rambutan heard the news, he could not believe that he would have to share his title with Ghost Pepper and demanded a recount. While recounting set us back a bit (we promise that's why it took us so long to announce the winners!), we hope printing T-shirts will take less time.

Lest we forget our favorite fans, both Rambutan and Ghost Pepper each selected a reader to win a free T-shirt. The winners are e (@sirrice) and drMikey!  Please email us at info@kalecrusaders.com with your mailing address and T-shirt size!