Even though I thoroughly enjoy a good grapefruit, I avoided grapefruit smoothies for a long time because I was afraid of them being too bitter. I recently decided to try making one for variety and it was actually quite good. For starters I recommend using either a small grapefruit or a half because it can still be pretty bitter.

¼ cup water
½ grapefruit (peeled & seeds removed)
1 orange (peeled & seeds removed)
1 carrot (scrubbed)
1 apple (cored)
3 Tbsp chia seeds
1 cup frozen strawberries
5 ice cubes

Makes ~32 oz, or 2 medium servings. I peeled the grapefruit the same way I do oranges and removed the visible seeds. Blend on high until smooth and enjoy.

I tried this with several grapefruit varieties and close relatives of grapefruit. I tried Ruby Red, oro blanco, cocktail grapefruit, and pomelo. Our favorites were the ruby red and oro blanco, although they were all good. Also, there can be quite a bit of variation within a single type, so picking a top quality fruit is probably more important than the variety.

Russ Parsons has a short section on grapefruits in How to Pick a Peach. He recommends choosing heavy fruits with smooth skins and avoiding fruits with a recessed stem end.

If you want to go deluxe, you could use a grapefruit knife to remove the fruit from the membrane in sections, as the membrane adds some bitterness. I did not remove the membranes for the smoothies, but when I eat grapefruit straight I do like to scoop the fruit out of the membranes. I don’t often go for task-specific kitchen tools, but I have a soft spot for the grapefruit knife.Finally, remember that compounds found in grapefruit interact with some drugs, so if you or someone you feed is taking anything, make sure you check.

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