Grapefruit Craze

I remember my earlier years when we first moved to Tucson. I was beyond stoked to have a pool of my own and a yard full of citrus trees. After a long day of playing outside on the streets with the guys in my neighborhood, we'd climb up the trees, pick fruits, sit on a wall and eat them all up. Other times, I remember waking up in the mornings to find my dad in the kitchen preparing the grapefruits in halves and coat them with sugar. The house smelled so wonderfully that whenever I catch a whiff of the citrus fruit, it brings back memories! 

As years flew by, we grew out of it and often, during this time of the season, the grapefruits on the tree would overflow like crazy, fall and eventually rot on the ground. I hate to see them go to waste so I figured it'd be the best time to make freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. I'm a huge fan of coconut water and knew it would make a great combination with the juice by neutralizing the bitterness. I couldn't find a recipe that would combine both and had to experiment, hoping they'll turn out to be really tasty. I also added pears to help bring down the acidity even further and they turned out to be refreshingly sweet with a bit of tang as expected! Freshly squeezed juice is a lot of work if you do it by hand... but, trust me, you'll be proud of yourself in the end. Here is my simple recipe:

Ingredients:

4 cups freshly squeezed white grapefruit juice (about 8-10 grapefruits)

2 cups coconut water (I used ZICO)

5 overripe pears, peeled, halved and cored (the tender, the better and more juice it has so it's easier to blend)

Slice the grapefruits in halves and squeeze the juice in a large bowl. Set another large bowl aside and using a wire strainer, pour all the juice into the bowl to discard the seeds and pulp. In a blender, blend two cups of grapefruit juice, a cup of coconut water and 5 pear halves. Pour the blended juice into a pitcher and repeat with the remaining ingredients. Makes about 4-6 servings. (You can add more coconut water if you'd like. I find that two cups is just about right.) 

Only three ingredients needed with NO added sugar--how awesome is that! It's loaded with vitamin C, B vitamins, antioxidants, potassium, electrolytes and all that great stuff which makes for an excellent post-workout fuel. Don't forget a protein snack as well! 

And heads up, February is National Grapefruit Month... Cheers!