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Blueberry-arugula ice lollies! Or ice pops, if you’d prefer. This recipe came about after my husband and I took the kids to a blueberry farm in a nearby town over the weekend for some berry picking. They were selling crates of blueberries as well and I picked up a crate to supplement what we were going to pick, wanting to cook with them.
In Quebec, the 3 main berries to pick are strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. For this city gal coming from the little red dot that is Singapore, there’s something very satisfying about picking your own berries! We try to do this yearly, in fact, back in 2013 we were berry picking a week before I gave birth!
The moment we arrived in the fields, my younger son made a beeline for the nearest bush and automatically started popping berries into his mouth, ripe or unripe! It was fun to see him concentrating on the berries. His older brother picked ripe blueberries with the discerning eye of a 4 year old blueberry aficionado, occasionally pointing out the unripe ones to me (“Look, Mama, this one is unripe!”).
Since I started the AIP Whole30 2 weeks ago, I’ve not been using or consuming sweeteners such as honey or maple syrup in an effort to reset my taste buds. I wanted to make ice lollies for my boys, and that they had to be without sweeteners and nutrient dense as well! So the result are my blueberry-arugula ice lollies, fortified with gut-healing gelatin powder, creamy coconut milk, kombucha and arugula.
The peppery taste of arugula marries well with blueberries and the addition of gelatin and coconut milk give the ice lollies a rich and fluffy-type texture, making them very satisfying to bite! The gelatin prevents it from dripping as well, which makes for a mess-free ice lolly session! There’s a slight hint of sweetness coming from the berries, coconut milk and kombucha. If you’re not avoiding sweeteners and want a sweeter ice lolly, feel free to add some honey or maple syrup to taste. I hope you will enjoy these ice lollies as much as we do!
Where to get some materials online:
- 2.5 cups/ 345g fresh blueberries, divided
- 1 tbsp gelatin powder
- 1 400ml/13.5oz can coconut milk
- 50g/ 1.8oz/1 packed cup baby arugula
- ¼ cup plain kombucha (or coconut water)
- 1 tbsp good quality balsamic vinegar
- Pour half of the coconut milk in a small saucepan
- Sprinkle the gelatin powder over and leave it aside to bloom for 5 minutes
- Heat the saucepan over med-low heat, stirring constantly until the gelatin dissolves (strain if necessary)
- Add in ½ cup blueberries
- Stir occasionally for 5 minutes, pressing the berries gently as they soften, until the liquid turns light purple
- Remove from heat and set aside
- Place the remaining blueberries, coconut milk, arugula, kombucha, and balsamic vinegar into a blender/ food processor and blend until smooth
- While blending, pour in the mixture from the saucepan and continue blending until well mixed
- Dispense into ice lolly molds and freeze for several hours
- Run the molds under hot water to unmold and enjoy!
