VEGAN BLUEBERRY SHAKE!

Another summer is upon us (in the part of the world that I'm in, anyways)! So I am working with the British Columbia Blueberry Council again to bring you more delicious blueberry-filled goodness. :D They're pretty much my ideal partner to collab with because we just get together and promote locally-grown fruit. It's a win-win-win.

Chocolate is my favourite food group but shortly following that: it's blueberries. For as long as I can remember, my family has had about 5 blueberry bushes in our front yard and berry-picking all summer has become a welcome tradition. I eat a lot of the berries as I pick them, or snack on them later; many I use in recipes; and often I'll freeze a bunch when we have a good season (blueberry season is usually from mid-July to mid-September). Among an extensive list of reasons I love living here in BC, Canada (i.e. the northwest of Turtle Island) - albeit on unceded Coast Salish lands - is the fruit. Peaches, apples, berries, Oh My! I look forward to all of nature's juicy sweetness each year. While my fave seasons are fall and winter, summer is so worth the heat because it means I get to spend all my time enjoying these delicious treasures. 

BC is in fact the largest highbush blueberry producing region in the world, and these berries are the biggest fruit export of the province. Highbush blueberries are grown in the pacific northwest and are plump and larger than wild, lowbush blueberries which tend to be grown in the east. Both are delicious but generally when you buy blueberries - available fresh in summer or frozen all year - they're probably gonna be the highbush variety. If you live in BC, the blueberries available to you are nearly for sure going to be locally grown already but you can confirm this by checking the label. If you live elsewhere in Canada: same story. If you are interested in more blueberry recipes, I'd suggest checking out the BC Blueberry Council's recipe index.

Now onto THIS recipe! Ever since reading N'ice Cream by Virpi Mikkonen and Tuulia Talvio, I have been hooked on decadent vegan shakes. Of course I was into them before, but that cookbook opened my eyes to the magic of adding coconut cream and a smidge of maple syrup. [Note: I did just google the word "smidge" and it's definitely a thing.] This shake is creamy, sweet but not too sweet, and abundant in fruity flavour, thanks to both banana and blueberries. Enjoy!

The BC Blueberry Council is an organization of over 700 highbush blueberry growers in BC, Canada. They sponsored this post because I have bills to pay, but all opinions are my own. And I really could not imagine a more symbiotic partnership. >:) 

VEGAN BLUEBERRY SHAKE
[ serves two ]

3/4 cup chilled coconut milk (from the can, not the carton)
2 frozen bananas, chopped
1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder 
1 tablespoon maple syrup

Blend everything until lusciously smooth and divine-tasting. Adjust according to your preferences, adding more sweetener or whatever you like. Pour into glasses and enjoy!