Coconut Mango Banana Ice Cream

vegan (of course), gluten-free, date sweetened, Celiac friendly

 

First a little story (well, a rather long one), then some ice cream. 

When I was 7 years old, my best friend in the world was Melissa. We did everything together: we went to school together, played together, and presented a united front against our annoying brothers. We cooked disgusting, though imaginative concoctions and attempted to find test subjects for our chocolate clam pudding (pre-vegan days, of course). We played doctor - no, not that kind of doctor! - and she let me perform the appendectomies, brain transplants, and blood letting via leaches (well, raisins) I was so keen to try. We even tried to build a swimming pool in the back of her dad's pick-up truck one hot Texas summer. Rarely would you see one of us without the other. That is, until we were nine, and my family moved, not just down the street, but across the Atlantic Ocean. For the first few years, we wrote each other every week - I still have all of her letters in a box covered in Lisa Frank stickers. Her family even came to visit us while we lived overseas. But then, we slowly grew apart. My family kept moving, and we'd send each other the occasional letter or email, and see each other once every few years. My family moved back to the area where her's has always lived about 7 years ago - but by then we were both getting ready to head off to colleges in separate states, and had little time to rekindle old friendships.

And then there's now! Almost 16 years after I first moved away, we've once again become very good friends. We now work together, teaching at a small private school, and talk about food non-stop throughout our day. It's strange, but rather wonderful, because it feels as if those 16 years have made no difference at all. We get along easily, and have a shared history - something I don't have with many people. 

We also have several things in common when it comes to food - first of all, we both love food, and food blogs, of course, and could spend hours oogling beautiful glossy pictures of food :). We are both very concerned with where our food comes form and how it's processed. We also both follow very specific diets and lifestyles. I live a vegan lifestyle - I do not consume meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs, or any animal products or by-products, I don't use products that are tested on animals, nor do I wear or buy items made of silk, wool, leather etc.  Melissa recently discovered that she has Celiac Disease, and has converted to a low sugar, gluten-free diet, and also, after doctor recommendation, gone Paleo. You've probably heard about it - it's currently the new diet craze, and I believe it's followers avoid all grains, diary, legumes, processed sugars and oils, etc. - but I am by no means a Paleo expert. Anyway, this means that she's had to drastically alter the way she thinks about and consumes food.  Lots of gradual changes, learning, and imagination. As I've mentioned before, I'm currently trying to break my addiction to sugar (it calls my name!), and Melissa's been a great source of inspiration in that department -with recipe's like this fantastic ice cream, that make removing sugar a breeze. So anyway - there's a bit of history for you - whether you wanted it or not.

You do need an ice cream maker for this recipe- but if I didn't already have one, I'd probably go out and buy one just to make this recipe - it's that good. Plus, though I do love me some Nada Moo and Almond Dream, I actually think this tastes better, and it's far more economical than paying $5 for a pint of vegan ice cream. Plus, this ice cream contains no processed sugars! I can blend up a batch, stick it in the ice cream maker while I'm making dinner, and have fresh ice cream an hour later for desert. Which is pretty freaking sweet. And yes, I know, it contains coconut milk - notorious for it's high fat/saturated fat content - however, from all the research I've done, it seems pretty clear that these are considered the good types of fats (in moderation, as always), and there's only a cup of it in a batch that makes about 6 servings (depending on just how hungry you are :).

 

This is Melissa's recipe and it is truly amazing. Once you get the base down, you can basically add anything you want - here I simply added mango and banana for this creamy, tropical treat. But the possibilities are endless :) It's sweet, creamy and free of guilt - Enjoy!

Coconut Mango Banana Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of full fat coconut milk
• 1 cup of water
• 5 Medjool Dates, pits removed
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 fresh mango, peeled and cut into chunks - or 1 cup frozen mango chunks, thawed
• 1 ripe banana

Topping/Add-Ins:

• 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 2 TBS raw almonds, crushed

• Mix together
  

To Make the Ice Cream:
Put all ice cream ingredients into a blender. Blend the ingredients until only small flecks of the dates, mango, and banana remain. Give it a taste and adjust sweetness if need be - you can add another date or two, or a few drops of stevia. Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker, following the manufacturers directions.

Mix in 2/3ds of the coconut/almond mixture after the ice cream is set and ready to eat. Top with the remaining coconut/almond mixture and serve! 

Chocolate Roasted Almond, Mint Chocolate Chip, Cherry Lime-Aid, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice cream recipe's to come!