Carrot-Banana Gelatin (“Jello”)

I was inspired by AnneMarie’s July Broth Challenge on Cheeseslave to take the jump and try granulated gelatin.  I had been very hesitant to do this, because I just wasn’t sure if I would tolerate the gelatin.  I believe the brand sold by Radiant Life (Bernard Jensen) says that their gelatin is made from mostly grass-fed cows – but I have to be careful to trust such a statement!  However, I started thinking about it, and I’ve taken a few supplements that have gelatin capsules and haven’t had a soy reaction to them, so I figured I might be ok, maybe gelatin doesn’t bring along the issues that other soy-fed meat products do.

And even if I wasn’t ok with it, it might be a good way to get a little bit more of gelatin into J now and then, since the concept of broth this summer has just been totally disgusting to both of us, for the most part.

Luckily, I tried it out, and I’ve been fine with it.  In fact, I’ve started sprinkling it straight onto all sorts of food that I eat, to give a bit of a gelatin boost – since, like I said, broth — not happening so much these days.  Cold broth just is not that appealing.  Perhaps even less so than warm broth on a 90 degree, 80% humidity day.

However, gelatin sprinkles – yes!  They’re practically tasteless, and actually, on sweet things, the texture reminds me a little bit of putting sugar sprinkles on top of things!  It’s kind of fun!

So here is my first official recipe for a gelatin-based dish.  It has raspberries, so I’m a happy camper.  : )

Carrot Banana Gelatin

• ¾ cups banana puree (ripe bananas put through the food processor or blender)
• 1 ½ cups carrot juice (fresh is best, but you could also sub the organic, 100% carrot stuff from the store)
• ½ cup water, plus a little extra
• 3 tablespoons gelatin (I used Bernard Jensen brand)
• Ripe raspberries, or other (chopped-up) fruit, if desired

Mix banana puree and carrot juice in bowl.

Warm ½ cup water in pan on stove, add gelatin.  Stir to dissolve.

Once dissolved, pour gelatin mix into fruit mix, stirring while pouring.

Use a little extra water to clean any remaining gelatin mix off the pan (I hate to waste!  But you could probably skip this step!), and pour into carrot juice mixture.

Stir thoroughly, and pour into 6”x8” pyrex, or other flat-bottomed container – or a jello mold, or fun shapes, or cupcake pans … the sky’s the limit!

Dot top with raspberries or other fruit.

Chill until solidified.

Eat.

(I also froze some squares of this, since the raspberries were starting to go after a few days in the fridge.  They are quite tasty frozen as well!)

This post is part of Living Well Blog Hop, Fresh Bites Friday, Fight Back Friday, and  Primal Cave.