Looking for a Vegan Blue Cheese Substitute? Try Noni Fruit.

There are a lot of amazing vegan cheese alternatives: cashew cheese, nutritional yeast, and many others. But blue cheese has a flavor that’s pretty hard to imitate. Until now!

Noni is often known as “cheesy fruit,” because the raw fruit has a flavor and smell that’s strikingly similar to blue cheese. The problem is, because the fruit has no shelf life, it’s very difficult to get access to the fresh fruit to use as a blue cheese substitute.

Lucky for you, we at Hawaiian Organic Noni have developed a way to stop the fresh fruit from fermenting: our low-heat dehydration process. The result is a noni fruit leather with that tangy, blue cheesy taste, all ready to be put to use in dips, dressings, and salads.

Noni fruit is more than just a great substitute for blue cheese. It’s one of the most powerful foods for healing in the world, containing 165 beneficial compounds that repair and maintain the human body. It has more antioxidants than apples, pomegranate, and acai, and it’s been shown to slow aging, prevent disease, and even balance out the body’s blood sugar levels.

Here are three simple recipes that use Hawaiian Organic Noni fruit leather as a blue cheese substitute:

Noni “Blue Cheese” Vinaigrette

This delicious salad dressing isn’t anything like the chunky, creamy blue cheese dressing you might be familiar with. Instead, it’s a light vinaigrette, packed full of blue cheese flavor from noni fruit infused in the olive oil.

Serve over your favorite mixed salad. It pairs great with salads that contain some fruit, like apples or pineapple chunks, and nuts.

Makes enough to dress a main course salad for four, depending on how much dressing you like on your salads. You can adjust the amount of noni you use for a stronger or milder flavor.

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 4x4inch piece of Hawaiian Organic Noni Fruit Leather
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper

1. Cut the noni up into small pieces, and dissolve in olive oil.
2. While it’s dissolving, mix the rest of the ingredients together.
3. Add the noni and olive oil to the rest of the ingredients.
4. Whisk until the salad dressing emulsifies to a smooth, slightly thickened texture.
5. Use to dress your favorite salad.

Noni “Blue Cheese” Salad

Blue cheese crumbles are a common ingredient in many salads, and now there’s a great vegan substitute. Use pieces of noni fruit leather in the place of blue cheese, and you’ll get that delicious, tangy flavor—totally vegan! Plus you get all the amazing benefits of noni fruit.

Feel free to mix up the other salad ingredients as you prefer.

Makes enough for 4 large main course salads. You can adjust the amount of noni you use for more or less blue cheese flavor.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups fresh organic spinach
• 4 cups organic leaf lettuce
• 2 organic apples, chopped into 1 inch cubes
• ¾ cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 small red onion, very thinly sliced
• 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
• 4x4inch square Hawaiian Organic Noni Fruit Leather, chopped into small squares
• 1 recipe lemon thyme vinaigrette (recipe follows)
• Freshly ground black pepper

1. Distribute spinach and lettuce among four salad bowls.
2. Distribute apples, tomatoes, onions, pecans, and noni fruit leather evenly among salads.
3. Lightly drizzle each salad with dressing, and top with a little black pepper.

Lemon Thyme Vinaigrette

This delicious, simple dressing is great on just about any kind of salad.

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
• ½ cup olive oil

1. Mix first three ingredients until well combined.
2. Drizzle in olive oil as you whisk.
3. Whisk until dressing thickens slightly and becomes smooth.

Click here for the full version and access to a recipe for Noni “Blue Cheese” Dip

Noni Puree

This recipe makes way more than you need for the dip, so you can use the leftovers to make Noni Tea. The puree will keep for a few days in the fridge.

Makes 2+ cups.

1. To a blender, add:

• ½ pkg. or 1 oz. Hawaiian Organic Noni Fruit Leather
• 2 cups water

2. Spin in blender until smooth and consistency of applesauce

Honeybee Love: The Role of Bees on a Noni Farm

The role of bees on a noni farm is a little different than on other types of farms. This is because MorindaCitrifolia (aka noni) is a very unusual plant. It’s full of amazing beneficial compounds, grows and fruits year-round, and it also reproduces in a very unusual way.

You probably know that most plants have to exchange pollen in order to reproduce. This can be done by the wind or by pollinator animals, such as bees. When bees crawl into flowers in search of pollen and nectar, a lot of pollen sticks to their hairy bodies. They then crawl into another flower, and the pollen of the two flowers mixes.

But noni trees work a little differently. Noni trees make a fruit first and then the flowers come out of the fruit after the tree has made a fruit.  If you look at a photo of a mature white Noni fruit, you will see many, many brown spots where a flower has been attached (75- 100 flowers per fruit).The flowers have nothing to do with pollination and making a fruit which means that they don’t actually need bees to pollinate them at all! And yet, there are honeybees landing on the noni blossoms all the time. What’s going on?  We have over 45 Bee hives on our organic farm.  Bees love our Noni and we love our bees.

Bee Basics

Bees need pollen and nectar for food and honey making. That’s why they fly from flower to flower. Usually, the flowers that require bee pollination have evolved to attract bees, and bees tend to leave alone the flowers that don’t need them.

So why would noni blossoms have evolved to attract bees? There must be some kind of mutual gain. Obviously the bee can still get nectar and pollen from the flower, but what does the noni plant get in return?

Bees and Noni

Another thing that makes noni so unusual is that flowers only develop after the fruit has begun to form. There hasn’t been a lot of research done on why and how exactly this happens.

But we do know that it means that bees are visiting flowers once the fruit is already formed—pretty unique in the plant world. So what are they doing there, other than gathering nectar?

The answer is, we’re not really sure. MorindaCitrifoliais still very under-researched. But ethno botanists who have visited our farm to research Noni believe that bees contribute to the fruit in a very special way. They hypothesize that many of the many beneficial compounds found in the fruit actually come from bees and pollen entering the flowers that grow on the noni fruit.

If more conclusive research comes in about this, we’ll let you know. For now, it’s one of those amazing mysteries of nature.

Whether the ethno biologists are right or not, we love that honeybees visit our noni blossoms. We’re committed to supporting pollinators, and bees are particularly important. They pollinate many of the other local flowering plants, both decorative and edible. According to some estimates, bees are responsible for pollinating more than 90 flowering food crops, translating to 80% of the food in grocery stores. Without bees, those plants would die, and our food system would be hugely impacted.

The Plight of Bees

Bees are also of special importance because they are at risk worldwide. Varroa mites and Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) have led to mass bee deaths, especially in the United States and Europe. Many scientists and environmentalists have dedicated themselves to finding out why this is happening.

Many experts blame the ever-increasing usage of commercial pesticides in industrial agriculture. They believe these pesticides are dampening bees’ immune systems, as they are exposed to small amounts throughout their lifetimes.

Bees on Kauai

This makes bees on Kauai extra-important, because the bees on our island don’t show many of the signs of a depressed immune system that other bees show worldwide. There are also no varroa mites on the island, and no known cases of CCD.

Kauai is a great environment for bees. They can fly and forage year-round, and there’s no winter season to put stress on them. Bees have flourished on Kauai since they were brought to the island in the late 1890s for commercial honey-making.

Today, even most commercial beehives on Kauai are more wild than in the rest of the United States. Bees roam the island, pollinating food and flower crops that are a major source of income for the island.

We need to do everything we can to support Kauai’s honeybees, and protect them from being harmed by pesticides or infected with varroa mites. Our bees might even hold some answers that can save bee populations elsewhere.

Bees Love Organic

For obvious reasons, organic agriculture is ideal for bees. Organic agriculture uses no pesticides, which means that when bees visit the flowers of organically-grown plants, they aren’t consuming tiny amounts of poison.

That’s why our noni trees are a great source of nectar and pollen for honeybees. We’ve been growing noni trees totally organically for over 30 years, and we don’t use any pesticides, chemical fertilizers, or herbicides that could harm bees.

We think that’s part of the reason so many honeybees love our noni trees, as well as the other flowering plants we grow on our land. We provide a safe, diverse menu for our bee visitors, and we encourage others to do the same. The more farmers that grow organic, the happier and safer bees are.

Read the full version to learn how you can help your local bee population

The 5 Most Photogenic Places on Kauai

We at Hawaiian Organic Noni are truly blessed to call Kauai home. We’ve lived on the island since 1981, and we never stop being amazed by the beauty of the “garden island” of Hawaii.

Although there are more beautiful places on Kauai than anyone could possibly count, here are a few truly breathtaking areas that are amazing for photos. Whether you’re a professional photographer or just looking to take amazing pictures on your vacation, these spots won’t disappoint.

Na Pali Coast

This is Kauai’s most striking coastline, with steep, dramatic cliffs and intense remoteness. You’ll need a helicopter or boat tour to see the full effect, but you can see much of the beauty by land as well.

To get some amazing views and pictures, we recommend taking on a section of the Kalalau Trail (or the whole thing, if you’re very adventurous), which is the only land access to the area. Vehicles are totally prohibited.

Start at Ke’e Beach and take the Kalalau Trail. The first lookout, looking back at Ke’e Beach, is extremely beautiful and a great spot for a picture.

2 miles into the hike, you’ll get toHanakapi’ai Beach. The beach itself is gorgeous and wild (too dangerous for swimming!), but you can also take a side trail to Hanakapi’ai Falls. The falls are amazingly photogenic, and not as difficult to access as the falls further down the Kalalau trail.

Read the full version to learn which destination is known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific!

Hanalei

There are tons of beautiful sites in and around Hanalei. It’s a beautiful, highly photographable area. The Hanalei Valley Overlook gives you an amazing overview of the area—a patchwork of lush farmland against dramatic mountains.

Then, descend down to the Hanalei Bay Beach Park. This is a truly gorgeous, half-moon-shaped beach, with white sands, crystalline water, and spectacular views.

Make sure to get a few shots of the Hanalei Pier. It’s been a Kauai landmark since it was first built in the late 1890s. Though the pier has seen several incarnations since then, it’s still an amazingly beautiful sight. In fact, the pier appears in the 1957 film South Pacific! Definitely worth seeing, admiring, and photographing.

Poipu Beach

Poipu Beach is a beautiful place to swim and snorkel. It was ranked the best beach in America in 2001, and for good reason. The beach itself is amazingly photogenic, though sometimes a bit crowded.

The true photo opportunity lies on the south shore of Poipu, at Spouting Horn Beach Park. There’s an amazing natural blowhole there that spouts a plume of sea water high into the air as waves are forced under a lava shelf and out the blowhole. You might even spot a rainbow in the sea spray!

Make sure to grab a few amazing shots, but don’t get too close! The area is extremely dangerous. Don’t worry – the blowhole is big enough that you can get amazing shots from a safe distance.

North Shore

The northwest shore of Kauai is our neck of the woods, and we happen to think it’s an amazingly beautiful part of the island.

Just a little bit north of us is the Kilauea Point Wildlife Sanctuary, where you can see many different species of birds, and sometimes whales and other wildlife.Kilauea Point is also home to a very photogenic lighthouse, which you can tour if you plan ahead.

The point is a great place to get photos of Kauai’s beautiful northwest shore, but make sure to head south a bit to Kaakaaniu Plantation, where we grow noni and make our home.

The plantation and its surrounding areas are incredibly scenic. The best way to see the sights is to book a free tour of the farm. You’ll get to see all kinds of wildlife, plants, and amazing views. You’ll also get to learn all about noni fruit and its amazing health benefits.

Learn more about the tour here! Hope to see you soon!

Unveiled: Hawaiian Organic Noni’s Noni Tea Recipe

There are so many different ways to get your daily dose of Noni! You can simply chew up the fruit leather, swallow it like a pill, or dissolve the leather in warm water. Or, for a unique, refreshing drink, you can make this delicious iced Noni Fruit Leather Tea!

We serve this tea at the start of all of our farm tours and it’s always a big hit. We’re sure you’ll love it as well. It’s a naturally-sweetened, allergy-friendly, totally organic drink, perfect for a hot day.

The best part is, because it uses 100% organic, slow-dehydrated Hawaiian Organic Noni Fruit Leather, the tea is full of over 165 beneficial compounds to heal the body from the inside out.

This tea is not Noni Juice. Noni juice is fermented and usually artificially sweetened. This is a tea made from raw, dehydrated Noni fruit pulp. This means it’s as close as you can get to eating Noni straight from the tree—as native Polynesians and Hawaiians have done for centuries.

Learn more about the difference between Hawaiian Organic Noni and Noni juice here.

Here’s the recipe!

Noni Fruit Leather Tea Recipe

Makes: 1 quart Noni tea

1. To a clean quart jar, add:

• ½ cup Noni puree (recipe follows)
• ½ cup organic apple juice
• 3 cups water
• 1 organic cinnamon stick

2. Put lid on, shake well, and refrigerate

Click here for the Noni Puree Recipe!

Hawaiian Organic Noni: Powered by the Wind

Whenever possible at Hawaiian Organic Noni, we let nature do the work. Nature knows best how to create amazing, healthful noni fruit. We let nature show us how to break down food and other scraps into compost. And we rely on nature for the farm’s power as well.

We capture the energy of the wind to power the dehydrators we use to make noni fruit leather. It’s one of the many ways here on the farm that we try to minimize our carbon footprint.

Here’s what’s so awesome about wind power:

Clean Energy Source

Windmills harness the power of the wind to convert turbine rotation into electricity.The rotating blades to convert the energy of the wind into mechanical energy in the form of a spinning turbine. The turbine is connected to a generator, which using the turning motion to create electricity, which is then stored in batteries.  However, our windmills have AC generating turbines attached to the blades which makes AC power that we use immediately to power the farm and Noni processing facility.

We love wind power because it doesn’t emit CO2 or other greenhouse gases when the electricity is made. The process doesn’t create waste or any other dangerous byproducts. It allows us to create our own energy on the farm, without putting the local wildlife or the land itself at risk.

Read the full version here to learn about wind power as a local renewable resource

Cost-Effective

Using wind energy lets us save a lot of money on the farm. It can be very expensive to even get power out to a remote farm like ours. And running a business that uses electricity every day can add up quick.

After the initial cost of setting up the system, it makes use of an abundant, free resource, turning it into a form that we can use. Our system has more than paid for itself over the years.

But it’s more than just the economic cost to us that makes wind power worthwhile. As humans, we aren’t great at calculating the hidden costs of our actions on the environment. We try to keep those costs low on our farm. Wind energy is low cost to the land, just as it’s low cost to us.

We’re proud to have wind power as part of our sustainability initiative on the farm. To learn more about the ways we protect the environment at Hawaiian Organic Noni, check out this blog.

How Much Noni Should I Take?

So you’ve done the shopping. You’ve done the research. You’ve looked through the dozens upon dozens of options out there, and finally decided on Hawaiian Organic Noni Fruit Leather. Good choice! It’s the best option if you want to get the most nutritional value out of this potent super fruit! It’s the closest you can come to being an islander, plucking a ripe noni fruit off the tree and eating it with breakfast every morning! But when you get your Noni Fruit Leather, it looks a lot different than a fruit. So, that raises the question:

How much noni should I take?

A short and simple answer is we recommend taking one 2in x 2in square of our Noni Fruit Leather every day as a natural preventative. This amount takes care of your daily immune system maintenance and gives you a balanced dosage for your day to day life.

For those suffering from chronic conditions, our recommendation is to take two to four 2in x 2in squares per day. If taking multiple pieces per day, we recommend spreading out the dosage, for example taking one piece in the morning and one piece in the evening.

Read the original article for some tips and tricks to gauge how much fruit leather or lotion you should be using!