Menu
Did you know that you can make a delicious vegan “ice cream” from many frozen fruits,
especially strawberry, mango, and peach or nectarine? In the case of peach/nectarine,
start with frozen pieces.
1. If you are using a high powered blender like a Vita-mix or Blend-Tec, carry on.
Otherwise, be careful that you don’t damage your blender, you might partially
defrost the fruit or cut it into maybe 1 ½” lengths.
2. All you have to do is put the fruit in your blender and add a little bit of your favorite
plant milk or, like I prefer to do, a plant-based creamer like almond or soy creamer.
For 3 servings of “ice cream”, try 6 ounces of peach and 2 ounces of liquid. Blend
and you will find that suddenly the peaches form into “ice cream”! It’s yummy rig
FOR SKILLET COOKED PEACHES:
1. I cut my peaches into slices maybe ½”- ¾” thick and put on a stainless steel pan
(you can use cast iron but I like the more juicy results with stainless steel and I also
prefer less moisture in my cast iron). I can but don’t necessarily preheat – the pans
come to heat quickly.
2. As the fruit starts to sizzle, occasionally flip. The fruit’s flesh will nicely deepen in
color and you can remove from the pan in just 3 or 4 minutes.
3. When you remove the fruit, you might have to work your spatula a bit. To make
things easier and add additional deglazing flavor, you can try adding liquid at this
point. I generally don’t like adding liquids in this way as some of the water soluble
nutrients are lost, but it’s a small tradeoff that is worth doing if you have a liquid
that you like.
4. If you go this route, I like a little bit of fresh squeezed Meyer lemon juice (which
may be difficult to find; substitute lemon or lime juice) mixed with a little cinnamon
(which has the additional benefit of helping to reduce blood sugar). You can even
use fresh squeezed tangerine or orange juice.
5. For a 12” skillet full with a single layer of sliced peaches/nectarines (maybe 2-3
fruits), try an ounce of citrus juice and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon. For those who like
the taste of rum, try light rum; just pour on a half an ounce to ounce or so for a
single layer full 12” skillet. The rum or citrus (or both!) will add a nice flavor and
help in loosening the fruit from the pan and bringing more flavor out of the pan.
6. If you do use cast iron, I recommend cleaning it immediately with a paper towel
and, if significant stickiness or moisture remains, recoating with oil.
ON A GRILL:
1. For those who grill, simply cut peaches/nectarines in half, pry out the seed, and put
upside down on a grill for a few minutes till the grill marks are dark to your
preference. Heat caramelizes the sugars and brings the sweetness to the forefront,
which you can notice by a deepening of the flesh color.
2. Turn the peach over and grill for another minute if you wish.
Finally, adding nectarines or peaches to main courses adds a nice summer flair. If I have a
pressure cooked main course of, perhaps, beans, potatoes, whole grains, and greens, I
might add 1 medium peach or nectarine, cut into ¾” pieces, per three servings to the
freshly cooked dish. The heat will partially caramelize the fruit and cook it. And, walla!,
you have a healthy main course meal that uses ingredients from each of the parts of the
PCRM Power Plate – fruit, legume, whole grain, and vegetable. Alternately, you can mix in
grilled or skillet cooked fruit to the main course
