Avocado Green Smoothie

I wasn't a fussy kid when it comes to food. I pretty much ate and drank everything. If it tasted sweet, it became my favorite. Those days there was no skimping of sugar, nor exotic ingredients. Just the stuff you get from the grocer's round the corner. The avocadoes are bought from the weekly trip to the Sunday market. Me and mom would leave home in the morning and take the half an hour bus ride to the market. I had a love/hate relationship with it. I love going to the market for fresh fruits. I'd get a mangosteen, peel it and devour it's sweet flesh. Or a get a thambili (It's called king coconut, a variety of coconut only used for it's sweet water) to quench my thirst under a burning sun. Mom would haggle and buy mangoes,bananas and avocadoes by the dozen.

I hated the chaos in the market, To get to the main market complex where everything was well kept and neat, you have to pass a long route of dirty and muddy roads, vendors with their wares everywhere, the noise and jostling crowd. Not to mention the sun burning down on you.

After all the purchases, we would lug the bags heavy with the fruits and vegetables, me carrying the lightest load, passing all the chaos again, to the bus stop to wait for the bus to head back home. The mini bus would come after ages, leaning heavily to a side. We get in the bus, stand with our bags wedged between our feet, hold onto whatever we could find, seats, ceiling railings and continue our journey back home.

The first thing mom would do after a wash is to make a smoothie out of the fruits we bought. Mostly it will be mangoes or avocadoes. The avocadoes will be blended with milk, sugar and the glasses topped with a scoop of ice cream, if we're lucky. That tasted divine after all the hard work and I'd lick the glass clean and go for seconds from whoever has not yet finished their glass.

I think that made me really love avocadoes and I haven't had it any other way. Till recently after the avocado craze in the internet. I'd been using sliced avos on my toast. When the craving hits I'd scoop it out and have it with goat cheese and a sprinkle of sea salt. Or with a drizzle of honey to satisfy a sweet tooth.  Or make this green smoothie. It comes handy as a snack mid-morning.

Unlike those days, now I have a few ready-to-eat Haas avocadoes stocked in my fridge all the time. It's summer here and when I want to have a quick breakfast I make this smoothie. I add protein powder to make this a complete meal. I use hemp protein powder and it's a lovely dark shade of green. You could use any protein powder or collagen. I think plain or vanilla would work best but the flavored varieties will change the taste and color.  I have used almond milk, but any non dairy milk would work fine. A bit of grated ginger adds a nice kick and balances out the flavors nicely.