RECIPES
Tropical Fruit Leather Bring on the sun and make your own healthy version RECIPE & PHOTOGRAPHY BY MEGAN McDUFFIE & MICHAEL VAN VLIET Creators of Fresh Off The Grid camping and backpacking recipe blog, in Bend, OR FRESHOFFTHEGRID
T
hese tropical fruit leathers taste like a ray of sunshine. Made of strawberries, mangoes, and bananas, this is the perfect snack to lift your spirits on or off the trail. Store-bought fruit leathers – while delicious – can be expensive and loaded with additives. We prefer to make our own at home using a dehydrator. Making your own fruit leathers is not only cheaper, but it’s also a great way to use ripe produce. You can experiment with different combinations. For this recipe, we went with mango, banana, and strawberry, but a lot of different types of tropical fruit would work. When in season, fresh fruit is best. But there are a lot of great flash-frozen fruits in the freezer section of your grocery store. Just be sure to defrost them before you begin. Prep time of 5 minutes, cook time of 4 hours. Special equipment: dehydrator, dehydrator tray liner, offset spatula 8 servings
80 Outdoor Summer 2021
INGREDIENTS • • • • •
1 lb. strawberries, stems removed ½ lb. mangoes 2 bananas ½ lemon, juiced 1 Tbsp. sugar, or to taste
DIRECTIONS 1. Thaw fruit, if frozen. 2. Add fruit, lemon juice, sugar to a blender and blend until smooth. Lightly oil your dehydrator fruit leather trays. 3. Divide the fruit purée evenly across the trays. 4. The purée should be spread out in an even ¼" layer. 5. Set your dehydrator to 135 F and dehydrate 4-6 hours. 6. Remove trays from dehydrator and carefully peel the leather off the trays. 7. Cut into strips, roll and store in an airtight container until ready to enjoy. Nutrition facts per serving Calories 59; protein 1 g; fat 0 g; carbs 15 g.
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