Hot summer afternoons have a way of making me crave all my food in liquid form, sweet, light, and easy. That usually means a smoothie, cool and creamy, just filling enough, and conveniently portable.
This particular smoothie was inspired by the avocado smoothies I subsisted on while living in Morocco. After late nights at work teaching English, I would reward myself with a jus royale (literally, “royal juice”), a blend of avocados, milk, dates, walnuts, and sugar. Paired with a crumbly semolina and sesame cookie, this was the ideal treat after evenings in a hot classroom, guiding conversations and debates with my students. On my walk home from work, I would stop at one of the innumerable mahlabas (literally “milk shop”) and choose from their rainbow of juices: strawberry-orange, dragonfruit, mango-peach, banana-almond.
More often than not, I went with the jus royale: smooth, filling, just sweet enough, packed with creamy avocado, nuts, and dates.
If you find it a little odd to blend up an avocado and call it a meal, I understand. Most of us are used to mashing avocados with onion and cilantro, or filling halves with tuna salad. But in a smoothie? Yes. With honey? Yes. Give it a try and you may never think the same way about avocados again.
Avocado smoothie with dates + almonds
Serves one.
Ingredients:
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1 cup almond milk (or sub alt milk of your choice)
- 1/4 cup raw almonds
- 4 dates
- 4 ice cubes
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch salt (optional)
How to:
- Blend all ingredients on high until smooth. Pour into a mason jar and take your breakfast or lunch to go 🙂
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