Fever & Passion: Smoothie Recipe

 My family is a big fan of tropical fruits.  My parents, having lived in a tropical African country for almost two decades, grew up on the most delicious exotic fruits and naturally developed a pallet for sunny flavors. As we were growing up, my parents used exotic fruits as treats instead of candy or junk food because that stuff wasn't a "pillar" of a sound diet as it appears to be these days. They treated us with all sorts of amazing fruits like guava, mango, avocado which in Portugal, was hard to get when I was growing up. I didn’t taste passion fruit until I moved to Canada where accessibility to tropical fruits was easier.   

I remember when I tasted passion fruit for the first time I felt like there were fireworks in my mouth! The flavors were so intense; sweet but slightly acidic, liquid-y and crunchy all at the same time, it was amazing.  So here is a punchy recipe with passion fruit that will give you fever for passion! 

I like this smoothie because it always makes me feel like I’m someplace tropical and for a few minutes I can escape to my imaginary beach, under my imaginary palm tree in my imaginary hot bikini. It's an easy smoothie recipe that doesn’t take long to prepare and it’ll bring your taste buds a little taste of passion : )  

Fever & Passion 
1 passion fruit
½ orange
½ mango
2 Cubes of aloe vera or about 1 inch
1 cup of purified water
Dash of cayenne pepper 

Take the passion fruit and cut in half.  Spoon out the contents into your blender. Then peel the orange skin, leaving as much of the white spongy pericarp as possible as this contains a high concentration of flavonoids that aid in fending off colds and building your immune system.  Next cut the mango in half into two cheeks.  Cup the one mango cheek in your hand and with your knife slice down the flesh, making three or four lines, making sure not to go through the skin and making sure not to cut your hand. Turn the mango slightly and make three or four more cross lines, making a grid.  Then use both hands to flip the mango inside and use your fingers to remove the mango cubs off the skin and into the blender.   Add a cup of purified water and blend for 1 minute depending on the kind of blender you have. 

Pour into a glass and enjoy.

Let me know what you think when you try it!

Cheers,
Ruthenium