Persimmon Smoothie

Submitted by Karen in Gotham

"I noticed persimmons on sale recently and it occurred to me that they might make good smoothies. I did a search and found only one recipe; I'm sure it's delicious but was loaded with sugar and dairy. Mind you, I consume my share of both but I have smoothies for breakfast and want them to be healthful. I got creative and after playing with proportions, came up with this. I've used both Hachiya (which I prefer and which I allow to ripen to the point of being near-mush) and Fuyu persimmons. Coconut milk is very high in fat but I don't use very much. However, a "lite" option with much less fat is available and I imagine it would work fine. Either type stores well under refrigeration in a covered container and can be found in Asian food sections of supermarkets, as well as in health food stores and ethnic markets. I found a canned variety of coconut water called Amy & Brian Coconut Juice in a health food store; I like it because it's available with pulp (unlike the mature fruit, young coconuts have little-to-no fat) and is also a better buy than the little aseptic packages. Fresh, sweet juice is best. You can toss some ice into the mix but I start with cold ingredients because I don't like to dilute my smoothies. The spices are Penzey's (always superb quality) and the extracts are from Vanilla Saffron Imports; in addition to their "unusual" extracts, their Mexican and Tahitian vanilla extracts are fabulous and their prices unbelievable. You can also add some natural sweetener but sample first--it should be unnecessary if your juice and persimmon are sweet enough. I've discovered that the season for hachiya persimmons is all too short. Next year, I'm going to buy many more and freeze them after they ripen. The fuyu variety are meant to be eaten firm and are therefore less of a hassle, but they're not as delicious."

 

• Ready In: 7mins
• Ingredients: 7
• Serves: 1-2

ingredients

• 1 extremely ripe hachiya persimmons or 2 fuyu persimmons
• 1 cup canned coconut water
• 3⁄4 cup orange juice or 3/4 cup tangerine juice
• 1⁄4 cup coconut milk ("lite" is fine)
• 1⁄4 - 1⁄2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (preferred) or 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon bee pollen (I use High Desert) (optional)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon coconut extract (optional, I use both) (optional) or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional, I use both)

directions

1. Measure liquid ingredients into blender using container's indicator--fewer dishes to wash!
2. Wash the persimmon(s), remove stem(s), and cut away any parts that look unappetizing.
3. Toss into blender with dry ingredients and blend until smooth.