When many people imagine a raw diet, they think of what they might eat, were they stranded on a desert island with no means of starting a fire. Of course, if you’re picturing a desert island, you’re probably populating it with plenty of palm trees, containing a ton of delicious coconuts.

While these big shells of hearty water and rich meat can be tough to crack, they are a crack addition to any raw diet plan.

But what do you do with coconut in the raw?

Sure, you could just eat the meat inside and drink the water plain, but where’s the fun in that? Here are two ways to utilize both of the best parts of a raw coconut.

If you feel like having a nice soup, you can whip up something with a touch of the tropics and a heaping helping of warmth and cream – without either the warming or the actual cream, of course.

Raw Butternut Coconut Soup might sound complex, but it’s surprisingly easy to make, and delicious. Simply wash, peel and deseed one butternut squash for each person you want to serve, and place in a food processor.

Add in half of a pear per person, cut into blendable chunks, along with half a cup of fresh raw coconut, and a pinch each of kosher salt, cinnamon and nutmeg per serving. Blend with a teaspoon of fresh, raw honey until completely smooth, and serve garnished with a mint leaf or a sprig of parsley, and some freshly grated cinnamon over the top of each bowl. This rich soup is so creamy and hearty, it will almost feel warm.

If you prefer your coconut served in a slightly more tropical way, you can make a wonderful raw coconut milk dessert that will instantly transport you to somewhere warm. It’s called Raw Kluai Buat Chi, and it is not only easy to make, but delicious to boot. To make this tasty Thai dish, all you need to do is prepare some coconut milk by blending together the water from a fresh young coconut with about a third of a cup of coconut meat per serving.

Once this has been blended to a smooth, milk-ish consistency, you can pour it out into serving bowls, and add in long slices of very ripe bananas. To stay true to the original, you might want to try using Thai bananas from your local specialty grocery store. These bananas are about four inches long and very thick. However, if you prefer to use regular bananas, simply ensure that the bananas you choose are as ripe as possible.

The original recipe in Thailand does call for cooking the milk and bananas to make the fruit extra soft, but of course, that would kill off many of the beneficial food enzymes in the banana and the coconut. Instead, ripe bananas will offer you the soft texture that the dish is famous for.

If the flavors here are a little too muted for your palate, you can add a dash of cinnamon over the top of the dish, or if you want a bit more sweetness, add a bit of honey or raw agave syrup to the blender when making your coconut milk.

Give it a shot and let me know what you think!