the most delicious fruit you've never had: the boysenberry

I was in Whole Foods this weekend and had a "When Harry Met Sally" moment.

I was hungry. I had skipped breakfast and lunch. You know that feeling of "I need to eat something right now. Now. Right. Now."? As I walked past the ready to eat hot foods,  the creamy, hot macaroni & cheese called to me. I swear it did. I wanted to stick my head in the pan. There were my favorite raspberry thumbprint cookies in the bakery and the cool potato salad in the deli. Tempting, but I lost 20 pounds in the past 2 weeks (11.2 week 1 + 8.2 week 2) and there was no way that I was going backwards.

This is when the produce god came into my life. I was in the produce aisle when I saw a new organic produce section built out. I needed some raspberries and I saw them--HUGE berries--HUGE. I had never seen them before. I picked up the flat and brought it over to the produce guy stacking blueberries.

"Hi. What are these?" I asked.

"Boysenberries," he replied, smiling. "Locally grown. Try one. Really. Try it."

I popped one in my mouth and summer exploded on my tongue. The berry was so juicy it just melted in my mouth. I closed my eyes and tasted a tangy summer morning on Martha's Vineyard. There was a bit of tart lime from an afternoon on a Mexican beach and sweet cherry from a cool wet morning in Washington. The flavors were so complex and simple and sweet and pure.

I moaned. "So good," I said to the produce guy. "Boysenberries. I love Boysenberries." I picked up two flats of the berries to add to my cart. There were several people around me looking at berries and now they were looking at me. From my flats I offered a berry to each of them. It made my day when one woman said to her friend "I'll have what she's having."  And with that, the rest of the flats of Boysenberries were gone.

There was no macaroni & cheese eaten that afternoon in the car. Instead, I put the top down, listened to vintage Pink Martini and savored the happiest fruit I've ever tasted. Bonus! I felt good about the choice I made by sticking to my healthy eating plan.  There's something to be said for beating a challenge!

Yes, Boysenberries sound like a made up fruit in a Dr. Seuss book but they are  incredible. I had a girlfriend over for lunch and served these berries with a side of Whole Foods 2% Greek Yogurt (the best Greek yogurt I've tried) mixed with a little cinnamon. It was heaven.

Check out Whole Foods or a local farm stand in your area for happy summer fruit, the Boysenberry.