Non-Alcoholic Piña Colada Smoothie

Labor Day. The unofficial end of summer. Hartford's trees are still green but they are starting to look tired — the leaves a little dusty, the yards a little scorched from a dry August — and the air has that late-summer stillness that feels like the world is taking a breath before fall.

I had a small Labor Day cookout. Just us, Sofía, Mami. Sofía is halfway through her first nursing school summer semester — she is in an accelerated program, she took summer classes, she is tired and glorious and she has dark circles under her eyes that she says are makeup but that I recognize as actual dark circles.

I made mofongo relleno — stuffed mofongo — which is a dish I do not make often because it is a production, but Labor Day gets production. The mofongo base goes in a bowl, pressed up the sides, forming a crater, and into the crater goes a stew — in this case, camarones al ajillo, shrimp in a garlic-and-wine sauce, intense, bright, salty. The mofongo absorbs the sauce. You eat it with a spoon. It is one of the great Puerto Rican dishes and it is my second-favorite thing I make, after flan. Possibly tied with flan. Depends on the day.

Sofía ate two bowls. She said, "Ma, when I am a nurse and I am tired after a twelve-hour shift, I am coming here for this." I said, "Mija, when you are a nurse, this house is always open. You walk in. You eat. You nap. You leave. I do not even need to see you." She rolled her eyes. But she will do it. And I will feed her. This is the promise. The mother is always on call. There is no retirement from that shift.

Mami ate half a bowl and then she asked about the shrimp. "Are these from Puerto Rico?" she asked. I said, "Mami, the shrimp are from Stop & Shop. They are frozen. They are from somewhere." She said, "The shrimp in Puerto Rico are better." I said, "The shrimp in Puerto Rico are better, yes, Mami, but these are what we have in Hartford." She nodded. She finished her bowl. She asked for a second coffee. I made it. She held the coffee cup with both hands, the way old people hold things, and she sipped and she looked out the window at the tree in the backyard and she said, "It is fall soon." I said, "Yes, Mami." She said, "I do not like fall anymore." I said, "I know, Mami. I know."

She did not elaborate. She did not need to. Fall used to be her favorite — the pumpkins, the piñones harvest in Puerto Rico, the cool that made cooking easier. Fall now means she is closer to winter, and winter is harder on her body, and fall now means the year is turning one more time, and there are only so many turns left, and we both know it without saying it. Wepa.

After the mofongo was gone and Mami had her second coffee and Sofía was dozing on the couch with her nursing textbook on her chest, I made these for the table — because a Labor Day cookout in a Puerto Rican household does not end without something cold and coconut and a little ridiculous. The piña colada is ours. We invented it. And this smoothie version is what I make when I want that flavor without the ceremony — Mami can have one, Sofía can have one, I can have three. It tastes like the island tastes in memory: sweeter than real life, a little frozen at the edges, and impossible to be sad while you are drinking it.

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 5 minutes | Servings: 2

Ingredients

2 cups frozen pineapple chunks
1 cup full-fat coconut milk (canned)
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 tablespoon honey or agave, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup ice cubes
Pineapple slices and maraschino cherries, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Combine. Add the frozen pineapple, coconut milk, Greek yogurt, pineapple juice, honey, and vanilla extract to a blender. Add the ice on top.
Blend. Blend on high speed for 45–60 seconds until completely smooth and creamy. Stop and scrape down the sides if needed.
Taste and adjust. Taste for sweetness. Add more honey or agave one teaspoon at a time if you prefer it sweeter. Blend again briefly to incorporate.
Serve immediately. Pour into tall glasses. Garnish with a pineapple slice and a cherry if you are feeling festive. Drink before it melts — though it will not last long enough to melt.

Nutrition (per serving)

Non-Alcoholic Piña Colada Smoothie — A Little Puerto Rico in a Glass, Right There in Hartford