14 October 2006

Avocado smoothie

This recipe is inspired by our trip to Morocco. As I was on the rooftop of Abdul's family home, I was looking at several potted plants. In a fun conversation with one of Abdul's brothers, I discovered what each plant was. He spoke Arabic; I spoke English. We pulled on our knowledge of a little Spanish and together we were able to communicate largely through gestures, smelling and touching the plants.

I saw a small avocado tree, which I recognized by the leaves. I often buy them dried in Mexican markets to make my Oaxacan black beans (I'll share that recipe sometime). I asked what they did with the avocados in Morocco. Through motions, he shared with me that they make a blended drink out of them. I was sure I misunderstood.

In fact, I had not. At a cafe in Marrakesh I ordered an avocado smoothie. Theirs was made with milk and it had hint of banana in it. It was great. Of course, I LOVE avocados.

Here's my twist on that tasty snack. For those who are counting, it's very healthy, pulling from three food groups at once!

Ingredients

3/4 cup plain, nonfat yogurt
1/2 small, ripe avocado
1/2 ripe, browning banana
honey to taste

Dump the first three ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until you get a smooth, light green yogurt. Taste. Add honey to achieve desired sweetness, which varies depending on the banana.

Eat immediately. You could try to keep some in the fridge, but not for too long. If you do, however, put plastic wrap directly on the mixture to keep air from browning the avocado.

Don't tell the picky eaters about the avocado. Enjoy!

1 comment:

Matt said...

I certainly wouldn't have eaten this if I'd known there was avocado, but it was pretty good, anyway. A bit tart, but that's really a minor complaint.

Thanks!