MELON GRANITAS
(Diabetes Friendly and Gluten Free)
I finally received my first Foodtown magazine (yea!) and I found the perfect summer treat to start off in there. It has been very hot here lately...great for swimming and beach play, but not so great for culinary creativity. Anyway, when I saw this recipe I went out to buy my rock melon (aka cantaloupe) and honeydew immediately...I even bought a watermelon for good measure.
One thing to note too is that this particular publication actually provides the nutrition info (Joie, you might like this!). These granitas are just 584 Kilojoules (139 Calories) and 0.1 Gms of fat (remember this info will vary slightly according to the fruit you choose to use). The magazine claims these are diabetes friendly and gluten free as well, for anyone keeping tabs on that.
Now, Dad always chilled melons for us before we had the opportunity to taste them and I must say that they always tasted (and smelled) nicer when they were really, really cold as opposed to the lukewarm versions in restaurant fruit salads so, into the fridge mine all went.
What is a granita, you might ask? Well, imagine a snow cone or shaved ice treat made primarily out of fruit puree rather than plain unflavoured ice and syrup. That’s basically what we have here. Granitas have more flavour because the majority of the ice is actually frozen pulp rather than water.
With this particular recipe, the colder your ingredients are, the faster it will eventually freeze and therefore the sooner you may devour them...and you will! This is just a basic granita recipe but you can pretty much use any fruit you like…whatever happens to be in season…but melons are particularly refreshing, especially after a nice meal. Some people opt to pour liqueurs or spirits over them (pineapple flavoured rum, Malibu, or midori, for example) sort of margarita or daiquiri style, but we like them just like this!
Here you go…
INGREDIENTS:
2 Cups of Melon/Fruit Chunks
1½ Tbsp Lime or Lemon Juice
1½ Cups Water
½ Cup Sugar
DIRECTIONS:
Heat the sugar & water together in a saucepan until the sugar is completely dissolved, then put it aside to cool.
Puree the fruit & juice together, then pour in the syrup and pulse the blender a few times to combine everything well.
Pour it into a shallow airtight container & freeze.
After a few hours, mix it all up with a metal fork and scrape any ice crystals off the sides and bottom to mix back into the middle. Repeat every couple of hours until it's well frozen.
Now, when ready to eat, scrape it into a pile of ice bits with a metal fork and scoop it into a glass or bowl and eat it! It's like a fruity snow cone or shaved ice, but way healthier!!!
One thing to note too is that this particular publication actually provides the nutrition info (Joie, you might like this!). These granitas are just 584 Kilojoules (139 Calories) and 0.1 Gms of fat (remember this info will vary slightly according to the fruit you choose to use). The magazine claims these are diabetes friendly and gluten free as well, for anyone keeping tabs on that.
Now, Dad always chilled melons for us before we had the opportunity to taste them and I must say that they always tasted (and smelled) nicer when they were really, really cold as opposed to the lukewarm versions in restaurant fruit salads so, into the fridge mine all went.
What is a granita, you might ask? Well, imagine a snow cone or shaved ice treat made primarily out of fruit puree rather than plain unflavoured ice and syrup. That’s basically what we have here. Granitas have more flavour because the majority of the ice is actually frozen pulp rather than water.
With this particular recipe, the colder your ingredients are, the faster it will eventually freeze and therefore the sooner you may devour them...and you will! This is just a basic granita recipe but you can pretty much use any fruit you like…whatever happens to be in season…but melons are particularly refreshing, especially after a nice meal. Some people opt to pour liqueurs or spirits over them (pineapple flavoured rum, Malibu, or midori, for example) sort of margarita or daiquiri style, but we like them just like this!
Here you go…
INGREDIENTS:
2 Cups of Melon/Fruit Chunks
1½ Tbsp Lime or Lemon Juice
1½ Cups Water
½ Cup Sugar
DIRECTIONS:
Heat the sugar & water together in a saucepan until the sugar is completely dissolved, then put it aside to cool.
Puree the fruit & juice together, then pour in the syrup and pulse the blender a few times to combine everything well.
Pour it into a shallow airtight container & freeze.
After a few hours, mix it all up with a metal fork and scrape any ice crystals off the sides and bottom to mix back into the middle. Repeat every couple of hours until it's well frozen.
Now, when ready to eat, scrape it into a pile of ice bits with a metal fork and scoop it into a glass or bowl and eat it! It's like a fruity snow cone or shaved ice, but way healthier!!!
YUMMO!
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6 Thoughts & Remarks:
Wow, I have seen and heard of these but never had the balls to make them! I thought it would be really complicated! Thanks for sharing, I will save this for summmer!!!
I will save this for the summer! :) I've never heard of this magazine though but I'm looking for something to fill a slight void as I've allowed my subscriptions to Vegetarian Times, Cooks Country and Cook's Illustrated to expire. Thanks for the tip!
Thanks. It's really easy, but the hard part is waiting for the stuff to freeze completely! :o)
This looks great, it sounds very refreshing on a hot night. I wonder thought being I am a diabetic if I could replace the sugar with Splenda to make it a true diabetic friendly dessert for Cheryl and I.
MaryBeth - I don't see why not...although the sugar is mainly used to keep the consistency softer (I believe). So, if you choose to use less sugar or an artificial sweetener, you may end up with a harder frozen block...nothing a few pulses in a food processor can't tackle though.
If the melons are ripe enough, the sugar isn't really going to change the flavour much anyway.
With something this beautiful and simple...how can I resist trying it out?! I'm going to try this recipe out on Valentine's Day! Any advice as to which fruits/melons work best for this recipe?
Nikki
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