Whole30 - Day 16: Tropical Fruit Bisque

The Whole30 is going incredibly well. My family is starting to make comments about how food is tasting different to them - things like, "apples are tasting sweeter." While the little ones were on board from the beginning, my oldest son and husband were skeptical. They thought I would be feeding them mash I suppose. After sixteen days though, they are just showing the first signs of readiness to continue on a paleo diet after our 30 days is up. I'm quite happy to hear that too, since I couldn't go back to the way we ate before if you paid me.

In an effort to shake things up a bit in the kitchen, I've been trying lots of new things...spice/meat combos, non-traditional ingredients, same veggies/different method, etc. Tonight I blended up a tropical fruit bisque with my 2 year-old son. (Ours is an altered recipe from the Make it Right paleo cookbook.) We had so much fun together, though a few times we almost had a disaster when he nearly turned on the food processor while the lid was still off and it was full of pineapple and mango. He is also quickly learning that the privilege of being the cook is tasting rights. Our bisque was nearly mangoless.

We served this dish as a prelude to dinner, mostly because once it was made we were too excited to wait. Who am I to deny this for my lovely little boy who had worked so hard. (Can you just hear my rationalization?) By the way, it was so delicious! And just to put this into perspective, I have an intense aversion to cucumbers! Mangos run a close second to cucumbers as well, but I have to say this was the best mango I've ever tasted. I could have eaten it straight, though I'll still pass on the cucumber. :)

This dish is sweet, a little tart, chilled, and would be wonderfully refreshing on a summer day. Of course, you could just turn up the heat and eat it this winter. Here are our ingredients: mango, cucumber, pineapple, lime juice, unsweetened shredded coconut, and coconut milk. (One caveat for you, should you decide to make this - not all coconut milk is created equal. Most of them contain carrageenan, which is a food stabilizer. I'll be writing about this in a future post.)

Tropical Fruit Bisque

1/2 a fresh pineapple, cut into spears
1 whole mango, peeled and cut into pieces
1/2 a cucumber, peeled and seeds removed
juice of one lime
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup coconut milk

Throw all the ingredients into a food processor and puree smooth. Serve garnished with pieces of fresh mango and pineapple and dust with cinnamon and shredded coconut.