Vegan Recipe - Coconut Pistachio Smoothie

Welcome to one of my favorite features on Reduce Footprints ... our monthly vegan recipe. This month's "guest chef" is no stranger to most of you ... she participates in our Change The World Wednesday challenges, is the editor of Good Girl Gone Green, and has a strong Eco-presence on many of the social networks. She is none other than our very own Stephanie Moram.

Stephanie shares a number of recipes on her blog. As I read through them, I noticed that many included raw ingredients. What I didn't see were tofu recipes, bean or pasta dishes, or dairy-free breads ... the usual "fare" on vegan recipe sites. Stephanie told me that she basically eats veggies, fruit, nuts & seeds and dried fruits. While she does enjoy grains, beans, lentils & tempeh, those are occasional treats ... 50-75% of her diet consists of raw foods.

Stephanie graciously agreed to share a recipe with us. It looks delicious!! Now ... here's Stephanie:

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I recently ordered a large amount of nuts, and dried fruit in bulk from a local company here in Montreal. When I say large amount, I mean I have enough to last anywhere from 6 months to a year. You should see the bag of coconut flakes presently taking up space in my kitchen. I see lots of homemade coconut milk in my future.

One nut that I love is pistachios. I was having difficulty finding the organic variety; therefore I have not been munching on them lately- until I bought almost 20 lbs of them. Yes 20! I guess you could say J.P and I are slightly addicted to them and cannot stop eating them.

Of course, with all those pistachios hanging put in my kitchen, I just had to come up with a smoothie recipe. And let me tell you it is tasty. I have never actually had pistachio ice cream. Shocking I know. But if I did, I would want it to taste like this. It is that good.

You be the judge. Does it taste like pistachio ice cream or is it just a darn good smoothie?

Coconut Pistachio Smoothie

Ingredients

• 2 cups of coconut milk
• 1/4 cup of shelled pistachios
• 2-3 dates
• 1-2 frozen banana
• 3 kale leaves
• 1 tsp of vanilla flavor

Place all the ingredients in a high powered blender (I use my Blendtec) and blend until smooth and creamy. I am sure it would work in a food processor, but I would blend the dates and some coconut milk together first to make a paste for better blending when you add all the other ingredients.

Serving size: 2 cups

Stephanie Moram is the founder and editor in chief at Good Girl Gone Green. She is passionate about promoting green habits and environmental values, as well as being the voice of change that will help others make their positive contributions to the environment. Living a healthy, sustainable, and eco-conscious lifestyle does not have to be overwhelming. Making the simplest changes to your lifestyle can translate to a non-toxic, healthier, greener you, family and environment. Are you ready to join this movement of passionate people? Let us know how you are contributing to making our planet a better place.

Thank you, Stephanie ... I can't wait to try it!

If you have a vegan recipe which you'd like to share, please send it to me HERE. And for all the recipes we've shared so far, be sure to visit our recipe page using the tab at the top of this blog ... or by clicking HERE.