Heart-Healthy Mango Tapioca Verrine

James Beard called tapioca pudding, “a most refreshing dessert…delicious to the taste.” This twist on the classic old-fashioned tapioca pudding recipe is heart-healthy and simply delightful!

Fat-free, cholesterol-free, and gluten-free yet creamy and satisfying this pudding pairs wonderfully with juicy fragrant colorful mango.

The cassava or tapioca plant is grown in the tropics and produces a fleshy edible root stock very rich in starch containing significant amounts of calcium, phosphorus and vitamin C. Starch is extracted from the cassava and formed into “pearls.”

My recipe is a fat-free version adapted from Bob’s Red Mill Small Pearl Tapioca.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 c. small pearl tapioca
• 3/4 c. water
• 2 1/4 c. fat-free milk
• 1/4 t. salt
• 3 T. egg substitute
• 2 fresh egg whites
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 t. vanilla
• fresh grated nutmeg
• mango
• citrus leaves for garnish

In a sauce pan, soak tapioca in water for 30 minutes. Add fat-free milk, salt, and egg substitute and stir over medium heat until boiling. Simmer uncovered over very low heat for 10-15 minutes. Stir often.

Beat egg whites with sugar until soft peaks form.

Fold about 3/4 c. of hot tapioca into the egg whites.

Then fold the mixture back into the sauce pan. Stir over low heat for about 3 minutes.

Cool 15 minutes then add vanilla.

Add fresh grated nutmeg.

Serve warm or cool, plain (with a dash of nutmeg) or with fresh fruit.

Here we diced fresh mango and layered it between pudding, served in adorable 2 0z. glasses.

Heart Health Happy!