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Caramelized Pear Smoothie
Did I mention buying a juicer? I think I did. I must have, I mean, it’s a kitchen gadget!
Fresh juice doesn’t just taste fantastic and is super healthy, it’s also really comforting to know that if I can’t get my toddler to always eat right; I can definitely get him to drink right. It’s the mommy in me! I sneak vegetables & fruit into everything these days. It just makes me feel slightly victorious to see him drink broccoli, spinach, fennel or beet juice and not even realizing it, it’s an ego thing, I’ll admit it.
I recently happened upon a smoothie recipe book published by a company called Innocent. It’s written in a really fun, almost blogging kinda way. As far as I could tell the photos are mainly shot using natural light and the recipes are great, too. Some of them really basic—the kinda combinations you try the moment you first purchase a juicer, others are far more special. I really liked the book, it’s a good read. No, I’m in no way related to the company nor do they pay me (oh innocent people, my birthday is on September 15th!:)
Here’s one that really caught my eye. As simple as it may seem, it’s a really surprising combination. It’s fresh, sweet and acidic at the same time. Definitely a smoothie with a bite.
Ingredients:
1 juicy pear
fresh ginger
2 oranges
honey
Directions:
I’m blatantly stealing borrowing their recipe, so I might as well show you what the book looks like! They also sell bottled smoothies yet I have to confess I’ve never tried them.
The juicer came with a brand new addiction; fruit overload. Good thing I’ve Americanized and stuffed a huge side by side fridge in my kitchen! Here, take a peek inside part of my fridge, you’ll see what I mean.
Get yourself a nice big, juicy pear. Peel it, quarter it and take the core out. I love how the light falls on the knife in the last photo.
Put the pear quarters in a baking dish. No, I’m serious! Go on … I’ll wait. Now drizzle some honey on top and pop them underneath a hot grill for 5 to 10 minutes—just ’til the honey has caramelized and the pear is all nice and soft.
This is what my pear looked like after 10 minutes! Ok, now here’s what the innocent people don’t tell you in their book, but I will; let the pear cool off completely or you’ll be drinking a warm smoothie. It ain’t pretty. Warm smoothies are all kinds of wrong, unless they have some kind of chocolate in them, of course, but then they’re no longer considered a smoothie.
Normally I would have just put these through the juicer, but because not everyone has a juicer, I didn’t want to cheat.
So I made someone else squeeze them. Playing rule #1; delegate whenever possible :)
Two choices; leave the pulp in or run it through a sieve while pouring it in the blender.
Peel and finely chop a tiny piece of ginger (I went for a 1 inch piece), this will really liven up your smoothie. See how the angle I shot at makes the knife almost look like a guillotine? :)
Add the pear and ginger to the juice in the blender. Simply forgot to take a photo of me adding the pear *hangs head in shame*
But it’s really there, see! Now give it a few blitzes.
I was really surprised how well the flavors all came together at the end. Now you didn’t hear this from me, but squeezing out an additional orange and adding 1/3 banana is also really delicious!
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That’s the cutest brand icon I’ve ever seen. I would never have thought to roast pears for a smoothie but I bet the flavor is amazing!
I wasn’t sure what to expect either, Katie, but it sure turns a regular pear into a flavor bomb.
I’m not sure the pears would make it to the smoothie for me…I LOVE pears and the carmelized honey…I might just whip (hee!) out my whip cream thing and have them as is!
And yes, the light on the knife – superb!
Ohhhhh that’s a really tempting thought. Dessert made of caramelized pears, a little chocolate sauce and whipping cream.
You’re a really bad influence, Ann :)
Exactly who is the bad influence here??? – I don’t recall mentioning chocolate :)
And now I have to go find that link to the premium chocolate place from the commenter on your tangerine cake.
But chocolate is healthy!! So we’re better off, health-wise, if we’d place a large order there! :)
Oh, forgot about the healthy aspect of chocolate – thank you!
But, now in tears as that site is in Dutch and although Kirsten and Dierdre and the site look wonderful, I haven’t much of a clue – my Dutch is non-existent except for the obvious – and I imagine shipping to the US is astronomical if they even do that, so will resort to Ghiradelli (San Francisco chocolatier) and and also look around for a US importer of Dutch and Belgian chocolate.
In addition to the healthy angle, I want to do my part for the global economy…
Did you used to do food photography in your b.c. life (before children)? Because you are most excellent at this. I love your posts. Just found you a couple weeks ago and I love your banter as well.
The “Hey Stranger, leave a comment” drew me in. You do the most amazing food photography. Love your simple recipes too. Found you via PW–consider me a fan.
Kate, I didn’t start food photography until about 2 years ago. I tried it back then and it was far more difficult than I imagined it to be. I can safely say I think it’s one of the most difficult specialties for photographers. That’s what intrigued me about it, so I focused myself on food photography and it became highly addictive. It’s always a race against the clock because you have to cook it, style it, photograph it and you only have very little time to shoot it.
That sounds yummy!
And that photo of the honey bottle is … special.
I LOVE Innocent Smoothies, and Innocent anything! At home in the UK my parents buy their smoothie cartons a lot. I laughed sooo much the first time I turned the carton over and saw the little note on the base which said “stop looking at my bottom!”
They’re much harder (and more expensive) to find here in Belgium so I make do with the recipe book too. One of my absolute favourites is the one made with mango and ginger beer which is seriously yummy, especially on a hot summers day (not that we get many of those!). Try that one soon!
Fiona, did you enjoy reading the book as much as I did? Even aside form the useful recipes, I gotta hand it to them; they do have a sense of humor!
This is a smoothie I would love to try. I was just thinking earlier today how pears are under-utilized. This recipe, however, is changing my mind.
I haven’t used my juicer in so long, I think I might have to take it out again and dust it off!
That recipe looks heavenly!
Kay,
Do you mind my asking your readers what types of juicers they have? I’ve been looking for one but was overwhelmed with the possiblities. We have little available locally so I will probably end up buying on the internet.
By the way, this recipe and the tangarine cake had me in gastronomic heaven! I meant to share the smoothie but it was gone before the boys got back in from sledding. I’m such a bad mom… I just wanted to save them from something they might not care for! hee hee…They were too smitten with the brownies to realize anything else was going on any way.
I’ve never thought of cooking fruit for a smoothie! Sounds delicious, though. I’m not a big ginger fan, but I guess I could just leave it out.
Your photos are wonderful, by the way. So sharp and detailed.
Wow- your photos are awesome. Who would have thought I’d get all excited about an orange cover of a honey jar? I also arrived here via PW. This recipe looks tasty and not too overly sweet. Thanks for the recipes and the wonderful photos!
This is cool! I happen to have 2 pears, 1 orange and lotsa ginger at home! And 3 bananas too! Hmmmm need I say more? I’m definitely going for this!
Boy! That is a ‘healthy-looking’ fridge you have there!
Yes! The book is almost as fun to just sit and read as it is to make anything from!!
Never heard of the book, but the ingredients for the smoothie make me wanna try it out, thanks for sharing the recipe!