Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

For someone who doesn't care much for pumpkin, it sure is showing up in my meals a lot lately (there will be another post with a recipe for Pumpkin Curry coming soon for my vegan Bon Appetit series). I guess pumpkin has suddenly become my go to winter squash because for every recipe I've prepared, there is just a bit of pumpkin left over that I still need to find a use for.

Today, I was in the mood for a smoothie since I hadn't had one in a while.  I  had coconut puree (that's what I'm calling the product of blending the meat with the water from a fresh young coconut) in the fridge that had been waiting to be devoured and I still had some left over pumpkin drizzle from the stuffed French toast.  The two were screaming to me to be combined.  While I knew this beverage would be adding to the seemingly popular slew of pumpkin smoothies showing up on blogs lately, I knew that the coconut with just a hint of pumpkin, rather than pumpkin as a base, added just the perfect twist to make it different.

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie 
Ingredients 
2 C fresh coconut milk (coconut puree)
2 T pumpkin drizzle, see previous post
3 - 4 dates, pitted and roughly chopped
1 T unsweetened coconut flakes
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 T chia seeds, optional

Directions 
1. Add everything to blender and blend until smooth.  If you use chia seeds, the smoothie will thicken and may become almost pudding like in density. If this happens, either eat with a spoon, or add a little water, or more coconut milk, to thin it out.