FUN, DELICIOUS PRE AND PROBIOTIC FOOD!

Much to my dismay, Carla has not made a single quiche since the one we made together.  So I decided to try something different.  With summer approaching and knowing her younger daughter, Ashna, would be out of school, I decided to teach Carla a number of yummy,  easy healthy snacks that she could do with little effort.  I figured I would do this with her kid around so there would be more pressure for her to "whip" these up in the future.  So here are the recipes, with Ashna's reviews to follow.

FRUIT SALAD
Fruit salad is easy to make but it can be time consuming.  It is, however, used for the next recipe, so from a time point of view, it counts for more than one meal.
Anyone can make a fruit salad.  BUT, there are a few techniques that can make your fruit salad stand out next to your neighbors.  Although not necessary, having good tools does make it easier.

  Here are the tricks:
1.  I tend to only make it in the summer.  I think summer fruits elevate a fruit salad from nothing special to an incredible treat.
2.  Vary tastes, colors,  fruits and textures
3.  As as general rule, cut the fruit to follow how it looks like in nature; don't chop it up into little squares or pieces.  You want to be able to recognize the fruit.
4.  Put the fruit that is going to brown on the bottom.  That means bananas, peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots and pitted cherries go on the bottom.
5.  Use only ripe fruit in season locally.
6.  Always cut an orange and squeeze the juice over the top of the finished salad.  It minimizes browning and gives it a nice flavor.
7.  Make an artistic decoration on top.  Presentation is important.


My fruit salads always have the following put in in the order listed:
Banana at the bottom
Peach or nectarine cut in slices
Apricots or plums (or if you can get them, pluots or apriums) cut in slices
A variety of melons (whatever is available) that is sweet and ripe.  I like to get at least 2 that are different colors, but usually I will get 3.  You can cut these in square pieces but I like to use melon ballers and make them in 3 different sizes based on the size of the melon.
Mango and/or Hawaiian papaya (I live in California so these are almost always available)
A variety of berries
Kiwi
Oranges


FRULATTI
The first time I remember having a frulatto was when I was in Italy as a teenager.  I fell in love with them.  Although Americans know them as smoothies, for some reason, I think that the ones that I have had in Italy seem so much better.  As you can tell from the fruit salads I make, I usually have some leftover.  That enables me to make my beloved frulatti.  They are very easy.


Take equal amounts of fruit, ice and dairy.  Blend.  You can add sugar.  (1 1/2 tsp)
See Ashna's review to figure out which kind of dairy you think you might like.


BANANA FRAPPE
The original recipe is from my college roommate, Katherine Dorfman.  It's a great way to use up those really ripe bananas that you imagine that you are going to use to make banana bread, but never do.  (I've made banana bread once in my life.  I prefer to do this.)

Cut up 2 large bananas and freeze them
Blend frozen bananas with
1/2 c nonfat milk
1 t vanilla
1/8 t nutmeg
Optional:  stir in chopped walnuts after bananas are pureed.

Serve immediately.

The problem with making it with nonfat milk is that it melts really fast.  So I decided to tweak it a little to see what I could get Carla to make that would appeal to kids as a healthy alternative to ice cream.  Here are the different recipes, with Ashna's reviews to follow:

2 cut up large frozen banana pieces

1/2 cup whole milk
OR 1/2 cup whole milk with  1 tsp added sugar
OR 1/2 cup nonfat yogurt
OR 1/2 cup nonfat yogurt with 1-2 tsp added sugar
OR 1/2 cup low fat vanilla yogurt

And for those of you who have little ones, you can see the blog I wrote for EcoMom that uses baby food:  Babies and Toddler Recipes.

"B"                  "A"

                       

Fruity Summer Treats (Ashna's Review)

            Now that summer is approaching, fruity treats are becoming more desirable. I was given an interesting opportunity to evaluate different versions of multiple summer treats, including fruit salad, frulatti, and banana frappes.

            First, I was told to try two different bowls of fruit salad and give my opinion on which I liked better. Fruit Salad “A” tasted like it consisted of many fresh fruits. The fruit was firm, juicy, and sweet. Fruit Salad “B” was also quite delicious. However, it tasted a bit “mushier” than Fruit Salad A. I was later told that Fruit Salad A was just chopped up and Fruit Salad B used various fruit slicing devices, for example the melon baller. Fruit Salad B looked much more appealing, however, I liked Fruit Salad A better. I was surprised that I enjoyed Fruit Salad A more, since the same fruit was used.

            Next, I tried different recipes of a berry frulatto. (NB - Actually, I just took the fruit salad - it took on the color of berries because the purple is so overwhelming!   Dr. Vicki)  The first ones were made with nonfat milk and whole milk. I enjoyed the frulatto made with whole milk more so than the nonfat milk. The one made with nonfat milk seemed a bit more diluted than the one made with whole milk. Then, the milk was replaced by yogurt. I first tried the one with nonfat yogurt and I enjoyed it a bit more than the ones made with milk. It had a thicker consistency, however, the frulatti made with milk tasted a little sweeter. Next, I tried the frulatto with vanilla yogurt. Personally, I liked this version the best so far because it was thick, creamy, and sweet at the same time. After this one, I was given a frulatto made with nonfat yogurt and sugar. I enjoyed this frulatto the most because it was similar to the one made with vanilla yogurt but the sugar brought out the fruity flavors more so than the vanilla, which is what a frulatto is all about. This frulatto was the happy medium between the original frulatto made with milk and a berry smoothie.

            Now it was time to taste the banana frappe. The first ones, like the frulatti, were made with nonfat and whole milk. The nonfat frappe tasted a bit too thin and runny. However, the whole milk frappe tasted frothy and sweet and I noticed the flavor of the banana more so than in the nonfat frappe. Next, we tried the frappes with nonfat yogurt, then vanilla yogurt. The frappe made with nonfat yogurt lost the sweetness and had more of a tart flavor. It was also much thicker than the ones made with milk. The one made with vanilla yogurt, however, was thick and sweet, and the banana flavor came through. It tasted kind of like melted frozen yogurt.  Now I was torn between the whole milk banana frappe and the vanilla yogurt banana frappe. I eventually decided on the one made with whole milk because the consistency came across as that of a frappe more so than the one with vanilla yogurt. They were both strong contenders, but eventually my taste buds chose the whole milk banana frappe.

            Later, I was told that all three of these recipes were easy to make. I love knowing that I can just whip up a delicious frulatto every now and then without doing too much work.



Dr.  Vicki again!  So here you have it.  Even if Carla never makes these again, I know that Ashna will.  So I've converted one person into spending some time in the kitchen.  How about you?