Oh you guys. We made this luscious Vanilla Cardamom Avocado Smoothie earlier this week when temps were in the 70s(!) with the intention of sharing a recipe to celebrate the warm weather we were having. It was wonderfully, convincingly spring-like all week, only for the temps to drastically drop last night and leave us with a dusting of snow and 20 degree temperatures this morning.
Thanks a lot weather, you trickster you. Luckily it’s supposed to warm back up a bit tomorrow, so I will just think ahead of greener (warmer) pastures. If it’s cold where you are too, sorry! And maybe wait to try the recipe until it’s warm again, hopefully very soon.
I originally formulated my recipe for the Vanilla Cardamom Avocado Smoothie last November as a post-op soft food following a dental surgery. Yes, I finally submitted to having my wisdom teeth removed, something that I’d been putting off forever. I am lucky that I managed to make it over 30 years before going under the knife, but as I’d never had an operation of any sort before I was pretty freaked out by the prospect and not really sure what to expect. All four of my wisdom teeth were impacted and one of them was positioned and rooted in such a way that there was a significant chance of nerve damage happening during the surgery, which didn’t help with my nerves at all. Luckily for me I came out on the other side just fine and didn’t experience any complications, so virtual high five to that!
Of course there was also the post-op healing period to deal with, and I knew the recovery process would suck. As I was having all four out at once I’d be very limited as to what I could eat, so I distracted myself from negative thoughts by planning out inventive and fun foodstuffs that I would actually be able to consume AND would be tasty because, dangit, I deserved it! I made an enormous batch of fattening, indulgent cream cheese mashed potatoes, stocked up on all variety of noodles, filled the fridge with lots of fresh veggies and fruits for juicing, and last but not least, I bought an insane amount of ice cream, gelato and frozen yogurt. Don’t judge me! 😉
One of the outcomes of playing around with the ingredients that I stocked is this creamy green smoothie. Well, I call it a smoothie, but let’s be real. It’s pretty much a milkshake. I won’t claim that it’s the healthiest thing in the world, but it does have some nutritional value to go with all the sugar, and it’s soooo yummy!
This was the very first food that I consumed once I got home from the procedure and into my pjs. I needed to fortify my tummy for the prescribed pain killers, so in a post anesthesia haze I concocted this recipe. I didn’t really expect much out of it and there was no garnish that first time, but it was really tasty and just what I needed in the moment. My partner in crime had one as well and agreed that it was a keeper, so we quickly jotted down the ingredients for future reference.
I’ve baked with a combination of vanilla and cardamom flavors before to great success, and that was the basic inspiration for the flavor profile. I wanted to incorporate something to up the thickness and creamy texture, as well as provide some nutritional benefit to keep my body going through the healing process, and that is where the avocado comes in. I’ve seen various avocado shake/smoothie recipes before and they always look really tasty, and avocado seemed to me like a good complement to vanilla and cardamom. Well, turns out I was right! Check out the below recipe and please be sure to comment if you try it out to let me know what you think!
Vanilla Cardamom Avocado Smoothie Recipe
(makes 2 large or 4 small servings)
Ingredients:
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1 pint vanilla frozen yogurt (your choice, use sugar-free if you prefer)
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1.5 c milk or milk substitute, I prefer unsweetened plain almond milk
- for garnish: 2 tsp honey, dash of cinnamon
Method:
Cut avocado in half lengthwise, remove pit and scoop out flesh with a spoon directly into your blender or food processor. Add frozen yogurt, cardamom and milk, and blend until well combined. You can increase or decrease the amount of milk according to taste. If you aren’t sure, start with less and add as you go to thin it out. Plain unsweetened almond milk is low calorie, and since you’re already getting the thick texture and rich flavors of vanilla frozen yogurt and avocado I feel that a lighter milk is appropriate here. The almond flavor is a good complement to the other ingredients, so it’s a win/win. Or is that a win/win/win? Either way, go ahead and pour this fine concoction into your serving glasses and add a drizzle of honey and sprinkle of cinnamon to garnish, if desired.