Showing posts with label smoothie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label smoothie. Show all posts

Friday, 13 April 2012

YOUNG THAI COCONUT

young Thai coconut
OMG!!!! If you like coconut, or even if you don't like coconut, you've got to try a young Thai coconut.
They look like this.....





Kind of spongy on the outside but yummy coconutty inside.
I will explain....





whole coconut


















In the picture above is a whole coconut that you would see growing on a coconut tree.  Green on the outside.  A Thai coconut basically is the green part cut away.  The hard "brown" coconut shell is the next layer and finally the coconut meat and the coconut water.  
In a young Thai coconut, the meat can be in a very thin layer almost jelly like or it can be a little bit more meaty as the coconut could have a nice layer of coconut meat inside.  It all depends on how young the coconut is.  You can't tell by looking at one when purchasing.  
They are soooo incredibly tasty.  Full of flavour.  Not like a normal hard mature brown coconut.  Yes the meat is tasty too, but most of the coconut water has been absorbed by the coconut itself and the meat tends to be quite thick and hard and difficult to get out of its shell.  Still tasty, but not the same as a young Thai coconut. There is a ton more coconut water inside a young coconut too.  It's pretty much full to the top, where in a mature coconut you could probably get about a 1/4 the amount of water in them.  Not only do they taste good but coconut water is excellent for hydration.  So after a night out drinking with friends, have a sober person open up one of the young coconuts and down the water.  No hangover in the morning.  Bonus!! Also, these coconuts contribute to our bodies good HDL cholesterol, as per popular belief years ago saying that coconuts are all bad fat. In fact they have very good and healthy fat.  

This is how to open a young Thai coconut.....
I open mine on my kitchen counter on a big cutting board.


The first time I bought one here at my local grocery store (I paid $2.49 for it), and opened it and tasted it, I couldn't believe how yummy it was.  Go and try one for yourself.  Really good!!!  I can't tell you enough how tasty they are. You really have to take my word for it and try for yourself. 
The first one I opened I drank the water and scooped out all of the meat and just devoured it all.  Mmmmmm.  I did share a bit with my husband.  He is very anti-healthy food, but he really thought this coconut was very delicious too.
I have since bought  more and have made a pineapple and coconut smoothie, a coconut berry smoothie that I went crazy with and added everything but the kitchen sink including gogi berries, cocoa nibs, cocoa powder, cashews, frozen strawberries, frozen raspberries, bee pollen, maca root powder and greens powder and i also made a green smoothie using the coconut water and meat, spinach, greens powder and frozen mango.  I can just taste it now. Mmmmmm.
I'm planning on buying many more of these young Thai coconuts and making lots of  tasty meals and desserts with them.  
Try one and let me know what you think.
Eat Well.

Sunday, 25 March 2012

TROPICAL INSPIRATION

This morning the sun wasn't as bright as it had been for the last couple of weeks. Clouds have moved in and the sky was grey. I wanted to continue the feelings of sunshine and happiness so I checked my fridge for some inspiration for breakfast and found some leftover coconut milk and some papaya.  I created a tropical smoothie to keep the momentum going with all of the warm summer weather we've been having lately. The temperature was 24 degrees Celsius yesterday.  Yes, if you check the date this was posted it is actually still March. It is very unheard of to have such warm weather here in Southern Ontario this early in the year.
Anyways, try this smoothie, its full of vitamin rich fruit, protein from the coconut milk and omegas 3, 6 and 9 from the flax seed oil, which helps for healthy and glowing skin. Any protein powder can easily be added for that extra boost of protein.  The banana is not pictured in the ingredients but had already been added to blender.

TROPICAL SMOOTHIE



INGREDIENTS

1 banana
1 handful frozen chopped mango
1 large handful or more of fresh papaya, seeded, peeled and chopped.
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 Tbsp organic flax seed oil
2 ice cubes

INSTRUCTIONS

Place all ingredients in a blender and whir until smooth.                                                                                                            


Pour into tall glass. Insert straw.  Enjoy some tropical sunshine.
Serves 1.