Strawberry Coconut Smoothies

It’s nearly strawberry season here in Indiana. Before we got into food 6 years ago, I had never heard of a season for strawberries. They were always available at my local supermarket, giant and red in their plastic carton. But when we started exploring local and seasonal eating, some local berries were one of my first choices, They were small but an overwhelming burst of flavor, tasting like the sun and the ground and summer.

From that time on, we focused on eating strawberries mainly during strawberry season, and local when we could. This smoothie is made of local strawberries that were frozen from last year (though we must admit the garnish is storebought!). The delicious recipe is courtesy of our friend Amanda, who brought the recipe idea from the new My New Roots cookbook and ingredients to a spring brunch we cooked together. (She’s also a fabulous photographer and overall amazing person.)

The smoothie was a lovely compliment to our brunch; it’s lightly sweet and refreshing. And I must say, bee pollen is the perfect garnish! Try to find local bee pollen if you can (feel free to omit if it’s not readily available). This recipe is the second of three in our Spring Brunch Menu that we worked up for spring and Mother’s Day, but it works for anytime: breakfast on the go, afternoon snack, or healthy bit of sweet after a meal.

• 1 cup strawberries, cut in half (plus more for garnish)
• ½ cup frozen pineapple
• ¼ avocado
• 1 teaspoon bee pollen (plus more for garnish)
• 1 Medjool date
• Lemon zest from ½ lemon
• 4 ice cubes
• 3 cups light coconut milk (preferably homemade or in a carton)
• 2 fresh mint leaves

1. Place all ingredients except for the mint leaves in a blender and blend until combined and thick.
2. Pour into glasses and garnish with sliced strawberries, bee pollen, and mint leaves.