This avocado berry smoothie is sweet, creamy, and delicious and loaded with vitamins, minerals, fiber, healthy fats, and antioxidants.

I love using avocado to bring a rich creaminess to smoothies and to add injection of healthy fats, and this avocado berry smoothie is a delicious example of how awesome avocados are in smoothies!

This avocado berry smoothie comes from the Absolutely Avocados cookbook by Gaby Dalkin.

This awesome avocado cookbook came out last year, and I’ve been happily cooking my way through it with an avocado-smeared smile on my face.

For those of you who don’t know Gaby, she’s a food and lifestyle writer who shares her delicious California-inspired recipes at What’s Gaby Cooking. Gaby is a regular contributor to Better Homes and Gardens, and her recipes and writing have also been featured on HGTV, the LA Times, Vanity Fair, Saveur, Design Sponge, Glamour, Refinery 29, The Kitchn, and Parade.

But, most importantly, she is a self-professed avocadoholic – and the perfect person to write a cookbook celebrating avocados.

As an avocado addict, Gaby shares 80 delicious recipes for every meal of the day. The book is broken up into meals, with a great mix of clean foods like smoothies, dips, and salads, to more decadent treats like nachos and desserts. For those of you who eat meat, there are chapters for that. There is also a vegetarian section sharing recipes such as: balsamic portobello topped with herbed avocado salad, fried avocado tacos, Mediterranean avocado pizza, sweet potato burgers, herbed quinoa and avocado stuffed peppers, and avocado sushi bowl. There are also some awesome vegetarian appetizers: avocado stuffed potato skins, avocado bruschette with balsamic drizzle, tostones with chunky avocado, avocado fries, and grilled avocado and salsa.

If you’re a vegan, there’s great recipes for salads, dips, and an entire section dedicated to interesting spins of traditional guacamole. Try the charred corn guacamole, chipotle guacamole, mango and cilantro guacamole, spicy sesame guacamole, roasted poblano and caramelized onion guacamole. For dips and sauces I love the tomatillo-avocado salsa, cumin avocado corn salsa, tropical pineapple salsa, avocado-cilantro hummus, avocado basil pesto, and avocado lime vinaigrette. I love the salads, too! The tropical salad, grilled romaine and avocado salad, Mexican chopped salad, cucumber salad, avocado broccoli slaw, winter citrus and avocado salad are all super easy and yummy.

The desserts aren’t vegan or gluten free, so I haven’t tried them. But, for those of you without dietary restrictions, the avocado and chocolate chip banana bread, avocado chocolate chip cookies, avocado and chocolate chip pound cake, avocado brownies, and avocado coconut ice cream all look fantastic.

There’s also lots of useful information and fun facts about avocados in the book.

There are hundreds of kinds of avocados from all over the world, with Hass being the most commonly known and used, and the only variety grown all-year round. But, Gaby talks about the Fuerte, Gwen, Bacon, Pinkerton, Nabal, and Zutano varieties, among others.

She also shares tips for buying and storing an avocado, the health benefits, with a double-page spread on how to cut an avocado with step-by-step photos.

Each chapter is punctuated with fun trivia facts about avocados. Did you know that 53.5 million pounds of guacamole are eaten every Super Bowl Sunday – enough to cover a football field more than 20 feet thick?

I thought I knew about avocados until I read this book. But, Gaby takes the obsession to a whole new level.

Get your copy of Absolutely Avocados.

*Probiotic Powder – I add 1/2 teaspoon of probiotic powder to all smoothies to replenish stores of healthy bacteria for immunity, digestion, detox, and to balance the acidic effects of high-sugar fruits and other sweeteners. The really potent probiotics require refrigeration. If you have capsules, break the shell and release the powder. Unsweetened probiotic-rich liquids like kefirs (water, coconut water, milk varieties) or kombucha make wonderful health-promoting additions to shakes, too.

*Celtic Sea Salt – I add a pinch (or more) of this alkalizing, mineral-rich salt to all smoothies to boost the natural flavor of fruits and veggies; temper the acidity of sweet fruits and sweeteners; stimulate the lymphatic system; replenish electrolytes; aid digestion; and help the body access energy. I do not recommend adding common table salt which is generally heated to extreme temperatures, iodized, bleached, processed, and refined. This salt does not have the same benefits. If you have a health condition that requires you to limit your sodium intake consult your doctor before adding salt to your smoothies.