Banana soft serve, sweetened by the fruit alone

Dessert has a real place in this way of eating, and this one is built entirely honest. Frozen bananas spin in a food processor into something genuinely creamy, like soft serve, with no dairy, no eggs, and no added sugar. It takes 5 minutes, and on a hot evening it is exactly the kind of sweet ending that feels like a real treat.

Bananas are a source of potassium, a mineral involved in fluid balance and in the everyday signaling between your nerves and muscles, and the fruit you fold in carries its own gifts. A raspberry and lemon version adds vitamin C, involved in the repair of connective tissue and in supporting immune function. It is a real food doing real things, not an empty sweet.

2 frozen bananas and a handful of fruit, nothing else. Scoop it into a bowl you like the moment it is smooth, before it melts, and eat it slowly. A few minutes of pleasure, taken with attention, are part of how good this way of eating feels.

Ingredients

Raspberry-lemon version (base):

• 2 frozen bananas
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice (omit if you are managing interstitial cystitis)
• 1/3 cup frozen raspberries

Flavor variations:

• Cherry-vanilla: frozen cherries plus the seeds of half a vanilla bean
• Blueberry-ginger: frozen blueberries plus a little fresh grated ginger
• Strawberry-banana: frozen strawberries
• Cinnamon-raisin: a pinch of cinnamon plus raisins
• Carob (the AIP chocolate option): 1 1/2 tablespoons carob powder (use carob, not cocoa, which is not AIP)
• Carob-mint: carob powder plus a drop of food-grade peppermint

Method

Add the frozen bananas and whatever fruit and flavorings your version calls for to a food processor. Process until the mixture turns smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape the bowl as needed so nothing stays chunky at the bottom.

Eat it right away while it holds the soft-serve texture. The bananas are what give it that creaminess, so keep them in every version even when you swap the other fruit.

*Adapted from a-clean-plate*