I was a little worried I’d be judged for posting this recipe because it wasn’t Paleo enough. That’s why I’ve included some Paleo modifications.
I understand the impulse to judge what others are eating. I just returned from a camping trip where I saw friends feeding their kids pop tarts and coffee cake for breakfast. Yikes!
It was particularly painful because what I ate as a kid (sugary cereal every morning and lots of other junk) contributed greatly to my developing severe digestive problems (the doctors called it Irritable Bowel Syndrome) later in life.
What we eat as children greatly effects our health as adults. Yet, it seems cruel to deprive kids of treats. So I didn’t say anything to them because I knew they’d get defensive. They love their kids (who are likely picky eaters) and they are doing the best they can.
But there is a compromise: healthier, homemade treats. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but home made treats contain fewer ingredients, high quality real food, and less sugar. You can even sneak in gut-healing ingredients like gelatin.
My ambrosia recipe exemplifies a healthy version of an unhealthy dessert. Real ambrosia is a dessert made with maraschino cherries, cool whip, added sugar and low quality marshmallows. Mine has probiotics from yogurt, no added sugar, organic fruit and homemade cherry jello (made from gelatin and tart cherry juice).
Here’s the not perfect part: even though I’ve seen recipes for home made Paleo marshmallow like this one. I bought my mini marshmallows at Whole Foods. I didn’t have the time, energy or food thermometer to make my own, but you are more than welcome to make DIY marshmallows. You can also use fresh fruit instead of the canned fruit I used.
My store bought marshmallow list sugar as its first ingredient. Not ideal, but it only has 5 ingredients and is made from fish gelatin. It was my happy compromise.
Even with the store bough marshmallows, my Paleo ambrosia is a health food compared to what I used to eat as a kid. And it tastes amazing. My husband’s inner child lit up when he had a bite of this sweet, quirky salad.
The following recipe makes a party-sized portion. You can half the recipe to make less or freeze the other half. It freezes quite well.
Ingredients
1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup of Coconut Cream (you can also make your own coconut cream by refrigerating coconut milk overnight and scooping out the solid part. If you tolerate dairy you can replace this with sour cream)
1/2 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut
10 ounce can of organic tangerine slices (no sugar added) or 1.5 cups of fresh tangerine slices
14 ounce can of pineapple chunks or 2 cups of fresh pineapple, cubed
1.5 cups of mini marshmallows (These are the ones I used)
1 cup of pistachios (if you don’t like pistachios you can substitute your favorite nut)
1 cup of tart cherry juice (no sugar added)
1 tablespoons of grass fed jello (I buy mine here)
How to
Make the jello in advance. Pour cherry juice in a pot and put on the stove but don’t turn on the stove yet. Sprinkle gelatin over cold cherry juice and let it soften for 5 minutes.
Now turn on the burners and bring the jello to a slow boil, stirring occasionally as it cooks. When jello dissolves fully, turn of the flame and transfer the hot liquid to a 9 x 9 pan lined with parchment paper. Your container can be smaller and bigger than this because the gelatin will be cut into small squares anyway, so don’t worry too much about the container.
Let cool on the counter for half an hour and then put in the fridge for at least 4 hours for the jello to set.
Remove from the fridge when you are ready to make the salad and slice the jello into cubes.
Mix all the ingredients (the yogurt, coconut cream or sour cream, shredded coconut, fruit, nuts and marshmallows into a large bowl. Once well mixed top with cherry jello cubes.
Serve as is or chill in the fridge for an hour or two before serving!
- ½ cup of plain Greek yogurt
- ½ cup of Coconut Cream (you can also make your own coconut cream by refrigerating coconut milk overnight and scooping out the solid part. If you tolerate dairy you can replace this with sour cream)
- ½ cup of unsweetened shredded coconut
- 10 ounce can of organic tangerine slices (no sugar added) or 1.5 cups of fresh tangerine slices
- 14 ounce can of pineapple chunks or 2 cups of fresh pineapple, cubed
- 1.5 cups of mini marshmallows (These are the ones I used)
- 1 cup of pistachios (if you don't like pistachios you can substitute your favorite nut)
- 1 cup of tart cherry juice (no sugar added)
- 1 tablespoons of grass fed jello (I buy mine here)
- Make the jello in advance. Pour cherry juice in a pot and put on the stove but don’t turn on the stove yet. Sprinkle gelatin over cold cherry juice and let it soften for 5 minutes.
- Now turn on the burners and bring the jello to a slow boil, stirring occasionally as it cooks. When jello dissolves fully, turn of the flame and transfer the hot liquid to a 9 x 9 pan lined with parchment paper. Your container can be smaller and bigger than this because the gelatin will be cut into small squares anyway, so don’t worry too much about the container.
- Let cool on the counter for half an hour and then put in the fridge for at least 4 hours for the jello to set.
- Remove from the fridge when you are ready to make the salad and slice the jello into cubes.
- Mix all the ingredients (the yogurt, coconut cream or sour cream, shredded coconut, fruit, nuts and marshmallows into a large bowl. Once well mixed top with cherry jello cubes.
- Serve as is or chill in the fridge for an hour or two before serving!
