I hate wasting food – hate it. This leads to kitchen creativity more often than not as I look through my cabinets, forming concoctions that sometimes clash but sometimes work beautifully together! This smoothie is healthy and delicious and was birthed from a vintage snack my mom described for me.
My daughter loves peanut butter and prefers to eat it straight from the spoon. She ALSO happens to love dates.I’ll slice one side of the date and fill it with peanut butter; sure to keep her busy for at least three minutes (not entirely unlike putting peanut butter on your dogs nose and giggling while he frantically licks). As my mom watched me prepare this snack she told me that her mom used to fill dates with peanut butter and roll the edge in coconut; she would offer them up as a sweet dessert at dinner parties. As coconut is enjoying its moment in the sun the unsweetened version is now readily available and entirely healthy for you. I rolled my daughter’s snack in the coconut and she loved it! 100% natural and full of fiber, healthy fats, and protein. Love it!
On to my breakfast smoothie – my coworker was about to throw out a package of silken tofu she’d bought for a vegetarian student. I saved it and figured I’d put it to use at home. I’ve been reading more about soy protein – in it’s natural state (tofu, miso, tempeh, edamame) it’s CRAZY good for you and should be eaten often. If preparing tofu for dinner, buy extra firm and dry it thoroughly before sauteing or grilling. Silken, though, is best for smoothies. Use it in place of yogurt and I promise it doesn’t taste funky – especially with these flavorful additions. The smoothie version of this classic snack was great – I drank half and froze the other half. Because there was no banana in it the frozen version stayed perfectly fresh and as I ate it partially thawed the next morning, It was like fro-yo for breakfast!
One caveat – you need a pretty good blender. We have the ninja and it makes this smooth as silk. You can still make it if you don’t have a strong blender but you will need to be okay with a little chunkiness.
Date, Peanut Butter and Coconut Smoothie – And a Snack!
Serves 1
5 dates
2 tbsp. unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 c. silken tofu (or nonfat greek yogurt)
2 tbsp. peanut butter
1 c. vanilla unsweetened almond milk (or skim, or soy)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
3-4 ice cubes
1. Place all ingredients in blender and blend at least a minute or until smooth.
