StarBulletin.com

Planting a new fruit tree yields delicious benefits


By

POSTED: Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Hawaiian Electric Co. and its partners will give away 2,600 trees and shrubs on Saturday, and due to popular demand, one-third of the plants that are being given away are fruit trees.

Certified arborists and volunteers from HECO, Kaulunani Urban and Community Forestry Program, the Urban Garden Center, Wahiawa Botanical Garden and Waimea Valley will be on hand to help select the plant best suited to your needs, whether it's a patio plant, a flowering shrub, a fruit tree or a shade tree. Visitors also will receive information to properly site, plant and care for the plants.

Plants available include alahe'e, koki'o 'ula, mountain apple, red hala, calamondin, kou, nanu, tiare gardenia, croton varieties, Manila palm, plumeria, fig, ma'o hau hele, pomegranate, koki'o ke 'oke'o, Meyer lemon and pua kenikeni. Pick them up at these locations:

» Waianae: 7 a.m., Kahe Power Plant, 92-200 Farrington Highway
» Pearl City: 7 a.m., Urban Garden Center, 955 Kamehameha Highway
» Honolulu: 7 a.m., HECO Ward Avenue facility, 820 Ward Ave.
» Kailua: 7 a.m., Koolau Base Yard, 1387 Ulupii St.
» Wahiawa: 9 a.m., Wahiawa Botanical Garden, 1396 California Ave.
» North Shore: 9 a.m., Waimea Valley, 59-864 Kamehameha Highway

Visit www.arbordayhawaii.org/events/oahu.htm.

Here are recipes using the fruit of some of the trees to be given away.

Easy and Moist Lemon Bundt Cake

2-1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup yogurt OR 1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon grated lemon or orange zest
» Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons lemon or orange juice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour bundt pan.

Sift flour with salt and baking soda.

In large bowl, beat butter with sugar, vanilla, eggs, yogurt, and lemon zest. Stir in flour mixture and mix well. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until done. Cool slightly and invert onto serving plate.

To make glaze: Mix sugar and juice together in small bowl. Drizzle glaze evenly over top of cake. Serves 10.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: 500 calories, 21 g fat, 13 g saturated fat, 120 mg cholesterol, 350 mg sodium, 75 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 53 g sugar, 6 g protein.

Grilled Figs with Bacon

6 slices bacon
12 fresh figs
Balsamic vinegar for drizzling

Cook bacon until lightly brown but not crisp. Cut each bacon slice in half; wrap each half around fig and secure with toothpick.

Grill until figs are tender; drizzle with balsamic vinegar before serving. Serves 6.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: 140 calories, 3 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 5 mg cholesterol, 150 mg sodium, 26 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 22 g sugar, 3 g protein

Find more Hawaiian Electric Co. recipes at www.heco.com.