I loooooove coconuts!

[Kris]

Yay! I'm so excited! My local market has agreed to stock cases of young coconuts for me, so after months of searching, I have coconuts aplenty. Last night hubby and I shared a deliciously sweet one after he picked them up from the store. He had never had a young coconut before and was so surprised and delighted at how good they are.

Now, since I have all these coconuts, any ideas on how to use them? I love eating/drinking them straight up, but would anyone like to share your favorite things to do with coconuts? :)

[Donnatah]

I have tried a few coconuts since starting this way of life (about 6 months now) and ...nope...I can't seem to get past the nasty taste. Do you think I am just bad at picking coconuts? Is there a pat (like a watermelon) or a touch (like a kiwi) that would cue me into picking a good one? Or... maybe it is an acquired taste (like green juice)? :)

If you can imagine it...

I bought a young coconut, brought it home and then had to figure out how to get into it. Worked hard trying to chop my way into it until I broke the back tip off one (favorite) knife (after about 10 minutes of battle) before I finally went out and got a hammer and a screwdriver. After working the coconut over - I was exhausted (I am laughing). I poured my greatly looked forward to drink into a glass and sat down. Leasurely and lovingly I looked at my drink, brought it to my lips - with satisfaction...since I worked so hard for it. Placed a big drink into my mouth and....... could NOT swallow. I ran to the sink in order to remove the offending liquid at a fast rate of speed.

HOURS later...I still had that taste in my mouth. You can imagine my frustration of having to be constantly reminded of my effort (by the taste in my mouth) and let us not forget my broken knife.

Donna

"Anything that is reinforced
is likely to occur again" -Skinner

[dhammala]

Oh no Donna! That is a sad story.. :( I was not super into the taste of the coconut water or meat on my first try.. but something said have another.. and I did.. and I LOVE THEM now.. in fact I crave them. My local store sells them for $2 each :( I need to find an asian market close to home..

[dhammala]

I *love* ice cream! I have used the ice cream recipe from Real Food, Read World and it is AMAZING. PM me for a copy if you don't have the book.

I also make my green smoothies with the water. I fill up the blender with greens, pour in the water from one coconut, whir it all up and then slowly add in my favorite fruits.

Last night I made a shake! 1 coconut water and all it's meat, whirred up in the blender.. Then I added a splash of vanilla, and a heaping tablespoon of raw cocoa poweder! IT WAS HEAVEN *AND* I was sooooo high!

[Kris]

I *love* ice cream! I have used the ice cream recipe from Real Food, Read World and it is AMAZING. PM me for a copy if you don't have the book.

I also make my green smoothies with the water. I fill up the blender with greens, pour in the water from one coconut, whir it all up and then slowly add in my favorite fruits.

Last night I made a shake! 1 coconut water and all it's meat, whirred up in the blender.. Then I added a splash of vanilla, and a heaping tablespoon of raw cocoa poweder! IT WAS HEAVEN *AND* I was sooooo high!

Thanks for the tip! I do have that book -- I will crack it, and another coconut, open tonight. And the shake sounds divine. I cannot even tell you how excited I am to have all these coconuts at my disposal. I could live off of them for weeks. :p

[Sharon in Colorado]

One thing that may have happened, was that you got a bad young coconut. They have to be fresh, and if they are too old or rotten, they'll be purple inside. I was happy to see the young cocos at Walmart but got 2 bad ones.

Make sure there are no dark or discolored spots around the outside of it. It should be all white.

[Sasha1200]

i use coconut water and meat for raw milkshakes and smoothies in lieu of almond milk.

and i with you...I LOOOOVE Coconuts!

[sport]

I just made the Coconut soup from alissa's book. Just coconut, pinaple and cumin. simple

[meganthevegan]

I made a yummy pudding from the meat of 2 coconuts, juice of 4 lemons, 7 dates (soaked for 20 mins), 1 inch vanilla bean. blend and eat, yummmmmm!

[Jamie]

Can't advise on how to open them as hubby always does it,,, but ohhh,,,, the first time I had a young one it was so delicious....Felt like I was in a tropical paradise,,, sat in a hot bubble bath sippin' my coconut with a cool straw....yum!!!! Just needed a warm lamp or something to sub for the hot sun :)


Jamie

[Live Free]

The coconuts have to be all white on the outside and they have to be a little on the heavy side. Make sure the bottoms are not soft or have cracks.
The coconut water has a nutty flavor and when it comes out of the fridge it is cold and oh so good. I am sorry you got a bad tasting coconut.

I guess I am lucky in one aspect my husband is Asian and knows how to pick the best fruits. He bought a pomegranete yesterday and it was so sweet.

I hope I can eat it quickly enough before it gets bad.

Teresa and Mae
Live Free

[deb2005]

I would love to try that shake, dhammala. My neighbor has a coconut tree. The coconuts fell off during hurricane Wilma, so these are really fresh! It was easy to poke a hole and get to the water and not too bad getting it cracked open with a hammer. But it was HARD getting the meat away from the shell. What's the secret?

[dhammala]

In the young coconuts, the meat is very soft and gelatinous. It is usually about 1/8" thick. Any thicker and it starts to really toughen up and get hard. I would guess that you would need to chip it out of there with a spoon or knife.. carefully!

[Vandy]

I hear that the young coconuts do not have as much fat in them as other coconuts. Is this true?

[deb2005]

Well, I guess these aren't young, even though they just came off the tree. The meat was harder than that and really attached to the shell. I did cut myself trying to chip it out, but I'm not ready to give up yet! Thanks for the tip!