If you’ve known me for a while, you may recognize this smoothie…it’s the Avocolada! I have used a version of this in smoothie demos, and usually get mixed reviews—-people who don’t like avocados tend to go into it thinking they won’t like it. And they don’t.
I love it, even though this recipe made about twice as much as I needed for breakfast today, I drank it all anyway.
Recipe:
1 cup coconut milk
2-3 cups pineapple, chopped
1 avocado
2 Tbsp lucuma powder (this is optional—I used it to add some sweetness, but you could also use agave or stevia if you don’t have lucuma)
Blend.
Lucuma powder comes from a fruit tree, and the fruit itself has a slight resemblance to a persimmon. It is high in beta-carotene, niacin, calcium, and iron, and the major benefit of this fruit is that it is low in sugar but adds a sweet-ish maple-y flavor to whatever you put it in. I’ve been using it in smoothies for a while, and I really like it. Apparently, it can also be used in other desserts, puddings, and even pies (as an exotic flour). I haven’t tried that yet, but I’ll let you know if I do.
Just a note about all these powders and things I’m using—I am not, in general, a big fan of using supplements instead of trying to get nutrients from foods. I love the superfood powders because they are food, and not stripped and isolated supplements. Of course, maybe it would be best to eat the fruit right off the tree, but since we can’t do that I think it’s still good to ingest the fruit in usable forms to us.
Stay tuned for my 2010 attempt at the shamrock shake. I’ve got some good ideas for how to make it both delicious and beautiful!
The Avocolada sounds like one of those recipes that divides a room, and your note about avocado skeptics deciding they won’t like it before tasting it rings true. I appreciate that you kept lucuma optional and offered agave or stevia as substitutes, since specialty powders can be a barrier for readers who just want to use what’s in their pantry. Your explanation of lucuma’s low sugar content and maple-like flavor is genuinely useful, and I share your preference for whole-food powders over isolated supplements. The shamrock shake teaser at the end has me curious about how you plan to get both color and flavor without artificial dyes.