Figs are considered a fruit. Most fruit has a lot of sugar. As I had explained in my Fresh Figs So Unlike Fig Newtons posts, most of the recipes I found for figs were dessert recipes that actually had additional sugar in the recipe. I didn’t want to make a dessert, so I ended up making a salad. It was very good. But as usual after having eaten something I don’t know much about I get curious as to what type of nutrition it has. Sometimes I actually am curious BEFORE eating it and I take the time to look it up, but this time it was after the fact.
Figs are a good source of potassium and fiber.
According to Calorie Count Two large figs (2-1/2″ diameter) contain about 100 calories and roughly the following:
Total Fat – 0.4g
Cholesterol – 0mg
Sodium – 2mg
Total Carbohydrates – 24.6g
Dietary Fiber – 3g
Protein – 1g
According to an article in 1999 by Dr. Sheldon Margen and Dale A. Ogar:
Figs “have the highest fiber and mineral content of all common fruits, nuts or vegetables. They also have as much as 1,000 times more calcium than other common fruits and by weight they actually have more calcium than skim milk.
Figs are 80% higher in potassium than bananas, and are extremely easy to digest. They also have more iron than any other of the common fruits and are extremely high in magnesium. All of this for about 20 to 40 calories per fig.”
I had an idea I would make a salad when I bought the crumbled goat cheese. I know, not exciting, but it was really good!
When I went to make the salad I realized I didn’t know what to do with the figs. My husband said he peeled them and ate the inside. So I tried doing that, but when I peeled off the purple he said that I needed to peel off the white part too and only eat the inside. So I tried that and as I was doing it I decided that it was ridiculous and could not be right. Maybe opening them and eating the flesh works, but it does not work when trying to add them to a salad. Then I remembered all the pictures I saw having purple (to me it is purple) on them. So I Googled them again and figured out that they just need to be cut up the way they were and we could just eat the whole thing. Unfortunately I waited too long to use them and we ended up only able to eat about half. The other half had gotten moldy.
I just made a simple salad:
chopped up figs
lettuce
crumbled goat cheese
fig balsamic vinegar
olive oil
salt
pepper (for my husband)
I wish I would have taken pictures. It was nice. Simple and yummy. Just enough sweet, creamy, and savory.
I saw recipes that said to use feta but I thought the creaminess of the goat cheese would go better with the figs.
Did you know figs are often referred to as the “perfect” fruit?
Terre Pruitt's Blog 