Easy Coconut Milk

I'm not a coconut fan, usually. But I gave this Coconut Milk from Living Raw Food a try. I want to broaden my food horizons and try the easiest recipes I can find.

This surprised me. I made the Vanilla, Chocolate, and Lime versions. I didn't love the chocolate or lime. The chocolate was too bitter, but that was my fault. The lime version was too tart for me.

But the vanilla one sneaked up on me. I sat in my office chair, and kicked back for an all-too-brief moment. I sipped the coconut milk from the class you see in the photo. The more I drank, the more I thought, "I never thought I'd like you, Mr. Coconut Milk. But I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." :-)

Silky, rich, just the right amount of sweetness. I'd put it up against any non-dairy milk you buy at the store.

It's a bit more work than 30-Second Nut Milk because there are two extra steps of straining the shredded coconut and 'seasoning' it.

Easy Coconut Milk

Plain:
2 cups shredded dried coconut
4 1/2 cups water (I added WAY more)
pinch of salt

Soak the coconut in the water, covered for 30 minutes. Blend. Strain through a chinois or strainer lined with cheesecloth.

NOTE: I don't have a high-speed blender. I have a Hamilton Beach from Target. I blended for a few minutes. Then strained the mixture with a nut milk bag. Then I put the milk back in the blender. I had about 4 cups of milk to work with.

Vanilla

2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons agave

After you put the strained milk back in the blender, add vanilla extract and agave, and blend.

NOTE: I used honey because that was all I had at the time. And I added back 1 cup of milk into the blender, with 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1 teaspoon honey.

Chocolate

To the vanilla variety, add 2 tablespoons raw cocoa powder or carob powder.

NOTE: I made this the next day. Apparently, there was no vanilla in my refrigerated leftovers. BITTER! I added vanilla and honey but it didn't work. I should have let the milk come down to room temperature. The chocolate clumped in the milk. Epic fail.

Lime

To the vanilla variety, add 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice.

NOTE: Not my favorite. But coconut milk is a tropical drink. As Sarma says, feel free to add tropical fruit juices to your milk: mango, pineapple, papaya. Even berries and bananas go well with it. So let me know what you think!

Love,
Althea

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Easy Coconut Milk