C is for Coconut Smoothie (Recipe included)

I love coconuts.

Seriously. I do.

They are amazing fruits with so many good benefits and it just plain tastes good. I’m a tropical girl at heart, so anything coconut related is worth a try, at least once. I will state right now that the only coconut candy I do like, are those Mounds bars, but never mind that. There’s very few coconut things that I’ve actually tried that I didn’t like.

Most of the time, it was worth the experience of trying something new and discovering what amazing foodstuffs exist in this big ol’ world.

Anyhow, my newest summer trend is to whip together a tasty sweet treat with enough sugar and ice to stave off the heat for a little bit. Natural Popsicles, milkshakes and smoothies have made their appearance in my kitchen, so I thought that this week, I would treat you to one of my quick fixes for a summer sweet tooth.

Pina Colada  is a lovely flavor, especially for yogurt and popsicles. It’s also very easy to make, if you have the right ingredients on hand. I love pineapple and I adore coconut, so the opportunity to mix these two together seem spot on.

So here we go for a quick, simple smoothie recipe.

Depending on how sweet you want your smoothie to be, you can use sweetened or unsweetened coconut milk for your base. Sometimes I add a little regular milk, just for smoothness (Almond or Oat milk works really well too!), a ripe banana (the ripeness of the banana will help with the sweetness factor) and of course, some pineapple.

I tend to use a 1:1 ration for the coconut and pineapple, but if you need numbers, I’ll make it simple. Keep in mind that I like to mix things up, so this recipe may be slightly more complex than a basic smoothie.

Sara’s Tropical Coconut-Pineapple Dream Smoothie.  (Why on earth does it have such a long name?!)

1 Cup coconut juice/water/milk (sweetened or unsweetened according to taste)
1 Cup pineapple chunks
1/4 Cup milk (soy, rice, almond or oat is fine)
2 tablespoons honey or liquid syrup if you’re using canned pineapple.
4 Ice cubes
1 teaspoon ground flaxseeds (golden flax)
1 Banana (frozen/ripe)

Cut fruit into chunks. Blend until smooth. Add the honey last, only IF it needs to be sweeter. Most of the time, you won’t need it unless your pineapple is fresh (and sour!), so do a taste test before you add it. The flaxseed will thicken your smoothie to an almost milkshake consistency, so make sure you add the ice cubes, to balance it out.

Do not store it in the fridge, drink it the same day. You can garnish with coconut shreds, pineapple wedges, fruity ice cubes or whatever you like. It makes approximately about three or four servings, depending on the size of said servings. It can also be frozen to make popsicles, if you skip the flax seed and add a few spoons of yogurt.

Anyway, enjoy! Happy almost-end-of-Summer. ^_^

Thanks for reading!