Creamy Coconut Milk Beverage

Coconut milk beverage is a great alternative to cow or nut milk. My husband loves it in his cereal, I love it for smoothies and Matcha Lattes (recipe coming). I got hooked on it a couple of years ago when I was on a 30 day nut free diet to see if it could help my breakouts, which it did. Nuts and seeds are high in omega 6 fatty acids which can be inflammatory if over consumed and not balanced out by omega 3s. Easy to do if you follow a raw food diet long enough.

Though you can buy premade coconut milk beverages in most grocery stores, homemade coconut milk is inexpensive, easy, delicious and healthy. Store bought milks often contain carrageenan, an emulsifier and thickener that can cause inflammation and permeability in the gut lining. Store bought brands also have other questionable ingredients and thickeners and are fortified with cheap synthetic and poorly assimilated vitamins like folic acid and D2.  

To keep the coconut fat from separating and hardening I use sunflower lecithin powder. Lecithin is regularly used in food manufacturing and is a naturally occurring phospholipid found in many foods like egg yolks, soybeans and sunflower seeds. It's also a good source of choline, which is great for brain health, so think of this as a little supplement as well. I've often added it to my raw cheesecakes and desserts and it's the secret ingredient in those fancy molecular gastronomy foams.

If you go shopping for lecithin, you'll see that it comes in granule and powder form. The granules contain more fat and go rancid quickly, therefore I prefer the powder, but either one will do for this recipe. Soy lecithin is the easiest to find, but make sure it's GMO free like the one from Healthforce Nutritionals. I've been using sunflower lecithin from Swanson for a long time, but recently discovered a cleaner version from Lekithos. They're the only brand that doesn't use chemical solvents, like hexane, in the processing. Don't skip the lecithin in this recipe or you'll have a hard layer of coconut fat at the top of the jar, as soon as you leave it in the fridge, that won't liquify when you shake it.

For your shredded coconut, find preservative free/unsulfured, organic coconut in the bulk bin of your grocery store. I get it for $6.99 a pound and can make four batches, making it $1.75 a batch. A dollar less than store bought. I like to keep it in an air tight mason jar in my pantry till I'm ready to use. 

Coconut Milk

Makes 4 cups

Prep Time: 5 minutes active time

4 cups warm water

2 cups shredded coconut

1 tablespoon lecithin powder or granules

Mix water and coconut in a medium size bowl and allow to soak for 30 minutes. Transfer to a blender and process for about 1 minute, then strain through a nut milk bag. 

Rinse container and return the strained milk. Add lecithin and blend again.  

Note: if you want a richer milk, you can use hot water and allow to soak for an hour or so and use additional lecithin. A rounded tablespoon or more is good.

Store in an airtight glass jar in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. Shake well before using.

For a sweetened vanilla milk add:
Few drops stevia or your favorite sweetener

Pinch of vanilla powder or 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Best to add in after you have strained out the pulp.

Note: if you have a lot of solid clumps after it's been chilled, then use a bit more lecithin next time or soak less.

Recipe from Raw & Simple Detox: A Delicious Body Reboot for Health, Energy, and Weight Loss by Judita Wignall

Copyright 2015 Quarry Books