Chocolate Coconut Manna-From-Heaven Smoothie

/
img_00252.jpg

My BFF from childhood is addicted to Coconut Manna. I reckon it probably ranks as one of the most suspicious is-it-good-for-you-or-is-it-not products on earth. All the ingredients label says is "Organic whole coconut". And the label description says "Coconut Manna™ is a delicious whole food made of pure, dried coconut flesh. This tropical 'melt in your mouth' treat contains 12% fiber, 9% protein and nourishing fats." (™ symbol and bold words are exactly as they are on the label. Haha.)

Following more instructions on the label, I had to soak the whole jar in warm water in order to melt the coconut oil to mix it up with the rest of the "pure dried coconut flesh". Kinda like what you need to do with store-bought organic peanut butter when the oil separates from the nuts. I've gotta say - this thing tastes goooooooooooood.

It's thick, gloopy and glossy kind of like how condensed milk is, but it's not totally smooth as you can see really fine coco bits in it. Actually, it tastes just like... well... Coconut in a paste form. Ha. It's not sweet at all, since y'know... the only thing in it is "organic whole coconut". OK, I'll stop it.

If coconut is ALL this Coconut Manna™ has in it, then it's awesome for you coz coconut is: AWESOME.

The Awesomeness of Coconut:

  1. It's full of calcium, magnesium, potassium, and coconut water is full of electrolytes. Coconut water has the same amount of electrolytes in it as human plasma. So go on yogis, have one more coconut to replenish after class! Way better than any of those chemically-processed isotonic drinks.
  2. Boosts your immunity as it's antifungal, antiviral, antibacterial and anti-parisitic.
  3. Coconut oil is an excellent source of good saturated fat. It's got the good kind of medium-chain triglycerides, which is not the same as BAD saturated fat from ANIMAL sources, of the long-chain fatty acid variety. It's easily absorbed and metabolized - meaning it's less likely to make you fat. As long as you don't glug down more than you need. Duh.
  4. It's got antioxidant properties - slowing down the ageing process.
  5. Cooking in high heat is great with coconut oil as it's got a super-high smoking point, so it won't change chemical properties and turn bad for you, like most other oils at high heat.

I was given this book once upon a time by a kindred spirit with a mutual love for coconut - life is good when you're surrounded by coconut-lovers! I'm still making my way through it, but it's excellent. And the title says it all.

And now I've digressed down the coconut rabbit-hole.

So My BFF being the BFF that she is, picked me up a jar of Coconut Manna™ from the health food store where she lives in London (did I mention she's also studying Herbal Medicine at the same college where I'm studying Naturopathic Nutrition? We'd make a power combo. Yeahhh.)

Since I had no idea what to do with it - the BFF eats it with a spoon, straight out of the jar - and I wanted something a little more civilized (sorry, Sam!)... I figured I'd whack it into a smoothie. But of course.

What's great with coconut? ...CHOCOLATE!!!!

I have a chocolate bias. It's great with everything. I also had some raw cacao powder to finish before its expiry date, so yes. Yet another WIN.

CHOCOLATE COCONUT MANNA-FROM-HEAVEN SMOOTHIE

Ingredients:

  • 4 Dates (use as much as you need to get your desired sweetness. If I had medjool dates, I'd probably use only 2.)
  • 1/2 Cup Desiccated Coconut (dried or shredded coconut found in the baking section of most grocery stores)
  • 1 Tbsp Raw Cacao Nibs
  • 1 Tbsp Raw Cacao Powder (use the pure form "cacao", not nasty "cocoa"!)
  • 6 Tbsp Coconut Manna (add more if you want a thicker smoothie or more coco-POWER)
  • 1.5 Cups Coconut Water

Directions:

  1. Chuck everything in the blender.
  2. Blend it.
  3. Top with a sprinkle of cacao nibs.
  4. Drink it.
  5. Bask in Choco-Coco Love. Life is gooooooood.

*NOTE: When the smoothie first looked like everything had been blended, I checked the inside of the blender and it looked GROSS - like vomit-scum (sorry for that description, but it looked that disgusting). It's the combo of cold water with coconut oil which made the oil sit and float on top. So I just kept blending it for longer and the resulting heat made the oil blend in and disappear. Rad.