Thai (or young) coconuts are quite different in appearance from the usual brown coconut. You can recognize a young coconut by its pale, almost ivory color and by its conical shape at the top. Look for these in the refrigerated section or produce section of health food stores or Whole Foods. Opening the coconut to drain out the liquid takes a little practice, or at least that was the case at our house. Using an electric drill (an idea that one of us thought was brilliant) didn?t do the trick. We are now using a cleaver to shave off the point of the coconut before carefully making an opening with the back of the cleaver. Fortunately, there is a web site that shows the correct way to perform this task. Admittedly, the thought of visiting the ER rather than enjoying a smoothie for breakfast has been discussed during the coconut-opening event.
Cut open coconut (see above) and pour coconut water into Vita-Mix or blender. Remove any coconut meat and add to coconut water, drained dates, drained almonds, vanilla and optional agave syrup and cinnamon. Blend until smooth, and slightly thick. If desired, add frozen fruit for color and additional flavor. 2 servings.