Creamy Avocado Drinks

I just made my first avocado smoothie.

It was delightful.

Yes, I'm surprised, too. I shouldn't be. These smooth, creamy drinks are sold by street vendors in Morocco.  Kevin and I learned long ago that street vendors, lovingly known around the (third) world as cholera carts, are often the source of the best a nation has to offer, gastronomically speaking.

These drinks are especially popular when breaking the fast during Ramadan, probably because of all the nutrition packed into that cool creaminess after a day of heat and hunger.

Yes, avocados are rather high in calories, but don't let that scare you off. They're also very high in nutrition, including the good fats, vitamin K, folate and potassium, they're helpful in reducing cholesterol, beneficial to the circulatory system, and they may help reduce your risk of certain cancers.

The reason I actually tried this new-to-me treat today is that I have four avocados that all ripened at once. How much guacamole can two people eat, after all?

As it turns out, variations on avocado smoothies and milkshakes are popular in Viet Nam, the Philippines and I'm sure other Asian and Eastern Mediterranean countries as well. I remember avocado ice cream in the Philippines, too, so their avocado milkshakes really are avocado milkshakes. But a little further research shows that most avocado shakes/smoothie recipes around the world are just avocado, white sugar and milk + ice. Here's a more interesting recipe that caught my eye on allrecipes.com:

1 ripe avocado
1 T natural honey
1 1/4 c chilled steamed milk
1/4 c fresh-squeezed lemon or orange juice

But really, do you see me steaming milk, then waiting while it chills, then still having a slot in my schedule to make the smoothie, assuming I'm still in the mood for it? I suppose you could keep a supply of steamed milk in the fridge. But to be honest, I rarely have milk on hand. Even when my child was little I didn't keep milk. I really don't think it's the least bit healthy.

Now that organic milk is readily available and for some reason my husband has taken to eating cereal in the morning, I admit to buying milk more often - but as he's only home half the time I'm still not lying when I say I usually don't have milk in the house. I've found this AMAZING product, though, called cereal cream - but that's for a different post.

Meanwhile, I try to keep a carton of almond milk on hand. I've even been known to make it fresh from water and whole almonds - gotta love that Vitamix. I think it tastes much better than rice milk and it's healthier, in my opinion, than soy. Viet Nam and other countries like to combine coconut with avocado, so coconut milk might be a delicious alternative to the almond milk.

So here's my take on it:

Dine-In's AVOCADO SMOOTHIE
"Meat" of 1 ripe avocado scooped out of peel
approx 1 T honey
approx 1 c almond or light coconut milk
1/2 c orange juice

Combine in blender and blend. If your almond milk isn't cold, add a couple of ice cubes. I think pineapple juice would be fabulous in this and I'll try it tomorrow. If you use lemon juice, as suggested by allrecipes.com, you'll probably want to increase the honey a little.

Note re OJ: We use either Florida Natural or Tropicana w/ lots of pulp, because I haven't found an organic brand I like. Fresh-squeezed would be great when it's convenient to go to that trouble.