Chocolaty Fig Smoothie

July brought its usual heat and humidity to the desert southwest. Given last summer’s “nonsoon,” thankfully it also brought satisfactory monsoon rains to a parched landscape. However, it appeared that it would not be bringing my figs. None at the farmer’s market… a few at Trader Joes. And then I heard the crunch of tires on gravel, announcing the arrival of my neighbor with a beautiful pound of fresh-from-the-tree figs. Fresh figs with goat cheese and honey. Yum. A new batch of fig frozen yogurt. Delish. And then the crunch of tires again. And again, each time my neighbor bringing several pounds of figs in quick succession. We went from fig famine to fig feast in a matter of hours- about six pounds worth. Now should you be a fig neophyte (which you shouldn’t be, as I’ve been raving about them for years) you might not know how perishable they are. As in they should be used within several days of acquisition. Six pounds is a hefty amount of figs to be consumed very quickly. We ate them daily, ignoring all the fruit I had purchased at the store. Fig and fennel salad went to a friend’s dinner party. I pureed some to make a fig tweaked oatmeal muffin, but these babies were on the downhill slide…

I have always fought preserving figs, because they are so delicious in their fresh state, and I still refuse to dry them. But six pounds of figs called for drastic measures, so the figs now lie in frozen repose in my refrigerator freezer. As I consider the best way to use frozen figs, my breakfast smoothie comes to mind. We have a breakfast smoothie once a week during the heat of summer, typically. I’m a relative newcomer to making smoothies. I’m not even sure when they became so popular. Perhaps I thought it was a requirement that some green thing like spinach had to be sneaked into them. While people swear that those few leaves of green will never be noticed, I beg to differ. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I’m not a huge fan of bananas. Not much in the way of smoothies in my years on the farm, either. There was seldom a shortage of ice cream in the freezer, usually vanilla and my dad’s favorite vanilla fudge marble. Both of which made thick and rich milkshakes. But fruit smoothies? Not so much. 

My base recipe is chocolate, and it comes from Marco Canora’s health revelation book, A Good Food Day.  https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/223199/a-good-food-day-by-marco-canora-with-tammy-walker-with-a-foreword-by-tim-ferriss/ The cacao powder and nut butter in Marco’s recipe somewhat disguises the banana, which is fine by me, and I often substitute frozen dark cherries for half of the banana anyway, so why not figs? I love the flavor combination of figs with honey and pistachio, but they also combine quite delightfully with chocolate. A nutritious breakfast smoothie combines complex carb from the fruit with protein, fiber and healthy fat. Figs are high fiber fruit, supplemented by flax meal for Omega-3 fats, hemp hearts for protein and a bit of vanilla. The sweetness of figs cancels any need for extra sweetening. This recipe makes one large, or two medium-ish smoothies. We enjoy the smaller size with a slice of toast alongside. 

The recipe is quick and easy, though the fruit has to be frozen in advance. And should your kitchen not be overflowing with figs, there are other options. Trader Joe’s carries a semi-dried fig in their freezer case. And my go-to smoothie substitutes frozen dark cherries for half of the banana, producing a frosty drink reminiscent of dark forest cake. Whichever one you try, this smoothie makes a refreshing and satisfying breakfast in the heat of summer. Quick and easy breakfast- don’t leave home without it.