Kava DSM Fall Favorites: Perfect Pumpkin Pie Smoothie Bowl, Autumn Harvest Mocktail, and a sumptuous Pumpkin Spice Waffle

​Hi Everybody!
So glad you’re here, because we’re going on an island trip!

Okay, so maybe real life in DesMoines doesn’t normally include palm trees and waterfalls, but since I opened Kava DSM late this summer, that’s changed! That’s right, walking into our new Kava restaurant at 300 Martin Luther King Parkway is like walking onto the Jersey shore or an island beach. And the food we serve there isn’t only healthy, it’s beautiful, tropical, and delicious. 

In fact, everything at Kava DSM is good for you. If you know me from my first Des Moines business, Natural Health Improvement Center, you know my overall passion is for good, healthy living, and for making it happen for as many people as I can. We’ve already been doing that at NHIC here since 2018 and now, at Kava DSM, we’re bringing our community more of a good thing!. Everything at Kava DSM is good for you--all coffees are organic and food offerings are plant-based, including the gelato! And, of course, there’s the Kava. 

​​What’s Kava? Well, Kava is a tea made from Piper methysticum, a plant native to the western Pacific islands. It’s highly valued there not only as a social drink, but as a beverage that promotes relaxation. Heavy kava is used for stress relief, and insomnia. Heady kava is a good wakeup and we’re offering both as a healthy, delicious alternative. Wait until you see what we’ve done with it!

First, if you’re drinking Kava alone at Kava DSM, it will come to you in the traditional coconut shell. Just tip it up, take a sip, and dream of the ocean. If, however, you want a little more adventure, try it in one of our mocktails, a zero-proof mix of refreshing flavors. We always have a selection of mocktails at the restaurant, like Kavamosa, Kavarita, and Kava Kolada, but it’s autumn, so we merged our usual island flavors with a brand new seasonal one, the Autumn Harvest.

Here’s the recipe:
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​Autumn Harvest Mocktail

Ingredients:

• 1 oz. Heady Kava juice
• ¾ c. organic apple cider
• 1 scoop of ice

Directions:

1. Shake these three in a cocktail shaker, getting a bit of arm and hip-action exercise in the process, pour into a glass rimmed first by coating the rim with
2. The juice of ¼ lime or lemon
3. And then dipping the moistened rim into
4. 1 cup coconut sugar mixed with
5. 1 tsp cinnamon
6. Fill the glass to the top with 
7. Ginger beer
8. Then garnish with an
9. Apple chip and cinnamon stick 

If you think that the fall flavors of cinnamon and ginger are magic, just wait until you combine them with the tropical flavors of coconut and kava!

And it doesn’t stop there. Kava DSM makes smoothie bowls, too! Always on the menu are offerings like the Coral Reef with mango, strawberry, banana, peach, and coconut, or the Magic Mermaid with greens, pineapple, banana, spirulina, coconut milk, and honey. But this fall, we’ve added our seasonal smoothie bowl, the Perfect Pumpkin Pie.

​​Here’s how to make it:
​

​Perfect Pumpkin Pie Smoothie Bowl​

Ingredients:

• ¼ c. coconut or almond milk
• 2 c. frozen bananas--make sure you use frozen chunks
• ½ c. organic pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
• ¼ tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• ¼ tsp. Cinnamon
• 1 pitted medjool date
• Pinch of salt

​Directions:

1. Blend all of these until smooth.
2. Then, top with
3. Cinnamon pumpkin granola
4. Pumpkin seeds, roasted or raw
5. Hemp Hearts
6. Almond whipped cream
7. Pumpkin pie spice
8. Salted Caramel topping
9. Edible flower petals (we used Cosmos, and petals only, please. Centers aren’t edible)

​There are some secret weapons in this dish--the date gives it depth and umami and the hemp hearts bring omega-3 fatty acids to the party.
​
Ever wondered what’s in pumpkin pie spice that makes it taste so good? It’s a combination of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice, all those warm flavors that just make us think of blankets and warm fires, even those of us who love the beach.

I have one more dish I’d like to share with you, and it’s one of my absolute favorites. It’s what we’re doing this fall with our very special almond flour Paleo Pumpkin Waffles. Now the waffles themselves are proprietary, but just see what we top them with for the fall:

​Pumpkin Paleo Almond Waffle

Waffle from Kava DSM topped with:

• Organic maple syrup
• Almond Whipped Cream
• Pumpkin seeds
• Pumpkin pie spice
• Vanilla plant based gelato
• Caramel Sauce
• Edible Flowers

​And that’s it! 

Whether you try these at home or join us in the restaurant at Kava DSM, I hope you’ll enjoy these fabulous fall treats.
​
And, like we like to say at Kava, Wake up and Chill!