We love eating in my house and while you may not find the stashes of candy, unless it’s Halloween and MAYBE Easter, you can always find healthy fruits. As a young girl I grew up on an island, living in a house that was surrounded by fruit trees. As a matter of fact, most of those trees are still there to this day. Mangoes, Plums, Pomegranates, Oranges, Tangerines, Limes, Lemons, Grapefruits and even Passion Fruits. My mother would normally pick the fruits and every day I would have freshly squeezed juices for lunch and dinner. I had no idea what Kool-Aid, Tang or any drink mix was until I came to the USA. Everything was fresh and direct from the source. Even now I still try and reduce our intake of artificial drinks and snacks by making our drinks and what we eat as healthy as possible. While I no longer have access to the numerous fruit trees in my backyard, I however have access to a supermarket where I can pick them up at my convenience. Citrus fruits can always be found now in my house. They are a natural source of Vitamin C and there are so many uses for them. For example, I use limes and lemons not just for making lemonades but I also use them for garnishes on dishes and to prepare my meat before cooking. Today however, my focus is on the grapefruit, also another good source of Vitamin C. I recently found out that eating 2 grapefruits a day can actually reduce your risk of gum disease. While I knew that it was good to lower bad cholesterol and it’s a great liver cleanser, l had no idea that there were so many other benefits. Now our Brown Sugar Broiled Grapefruit is what I use for dessert, so don’t do this one too often, this is our alternative to sweets. I hope you like it.
Brown Sugar Broiled Grapefruit
Ingredients
1 large, ripe grapefruit, chilled
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
Optional: Vanilla Greek yogurt
Instructions
Preheat the oven to broil.
Wash and dry the grapefruit and slice in half. Cut just enough off of each bottom so that they can sit without rolling around.
Using a sharp knife, cut in between the segments and around the edge of the fruit to separate it from the skin. This just makes it easier to eat.
Liberally sprinkle the brown sugar on top of both halves.
Place the grapefruit on a foil-lined baking sheet and place it about six inches under the broiler.
Broil for 60 – 90 seconds or until the sugar is bubbly and golden brown.
Remove and let cool before eating.
If desired, add a dollop of Greek yogurt on top for added protein!
Notes:
Be sure to let this cool before taking a bite. That sugar is blazing hot!!
The Greek yogurt is optional, but it adds some extra protein to round out the meal. The creaminess of the yogurt with the sweetness of the sugar and the tanginess of the grapefruit is a delicious combination of flavors!
I tried this a few times before getting it right, and it works best when the grapefruit is about six inches under the broiler. Too high and it burns in seconds. Too low and it doesn’t brown quickly enough. The idea is to get the fruit nice and caramelized fast enough that the inside stays cool.
You can easily double or triple this recipe. And the broiled grapefruit segments can be removed from the skin and used in fruit parfaits or even a dessert!
