~There's Fruit on the Bottom of My Tapioca Pudding~

Posting this follow-up to Tuesday's tapioca pudding recipe was not on my agenda today.  Welcome to one of my "why didn't I think of this before" foodie moments:

When I reached in the refrigerator this morning, to grab the half-and-half for my coffee, I couldn't miss the small bowl of ~ Tapioca Pudding: Just Like Grandma used to Make ~ sitting next to it.  There it was:  a scant 1-1 1/2 cups of the creamy-dreamy stuff leftover from Tuesday's blog post.  While I wanted to eat it right then and there (all by myself), my conscience got the better of me because Joe loves tapioca pudding as much as I do.  I decided to save it for tonight's dessert, so we could both enjoy it.  The problem:  one cup wasn't going to go very far.  Adding fresh fruit to it was the obvious solution, and, thanks to Joe's blueberry bushes, I didn't even have to drive into town to buy fresh berries!  Read on: 

A few hours went by, and, when I reached into my freezer, to grab a few ice cubes to put in my iced tea, I couldn't miss those trays of pureed pure-fruit cubes (kiwi, pineapple and strawberry) I had blogged about back in June.  There were frozen bananas in there too. My recipes for ~ Fun w/Summer Fruit:  Fresh-Fruit-Puree Ice Cubes ~, and, ~ Making Citrus Smoothies w/Fresh Fruit Puree Ice Cubes ~ can be found in Categories 6, 9, 10, 11, 16 & 20, or, by clicking on the Related Article links below.  Whizzing a few of these through the blender was going to make a yummy, semi-frozen fruity base for my tapioca pudding dessert.  While I love tapioca and tapioca pudding, many people don't know this starch has no nutritional value of its own.  Meet my easy, accidental, healthy solution to this problem:

In a blender, place:

3  standard-size kiwi, pineapple or strawberry puree ice cubes (I'm using strawberry today.)

1  frozen banana, sliced

4-6  tablespoons orange juice

At serving time (do not do this ahead of time), blend on high speed until thick and smooth, about 30-45 seconds. Portion equally into the bottom of two red-wine-type glasses and freeze for 20 minutes.  Top with tapioca pudding.  Garnish with fresh fruit slices or berries (blueberries, strawberries, kiwi, pineapple or bananas work great).  Serve immediately.

What a cool "it's too hot to cook" breakfast or Summer dessert!

There's Fruit-on-the-Bottom of My Tapioca Pudding:  Recipe yields 2, 1 1/4-cup servings/enough for 2 desserts containing 1/2 cup frozen fruit base and 3/4 cup tapioca pudding. 

Special Equipment List:  cutting board; chef's knife; blender; red-wine-type glasses

Cook's Note:  For one of my favorite, super-easy-to-prepare and healthy

"it's too hot to cook"

Summertime meals, you can find my recipe for ~ Avocado Cups Filled w/Asian-Twisted Tuna Salad ~ in Categories 2, 14 or 20.  This is great for lunch or dinner!

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2013) 

Related articles

~Tapioca Pudding: Just like Grandma used to make!~

~ Fun w/Summer Fruit: Fresh-Fruit-Puree Ice Cubes ~

~ Making Citrus Smoothies w/Fruit Puree Ice Cubes ~

~ Sour Cherry and White Chocolate Bread Pudding ~