April 20, 2010“You’re Smoothe, But I’m Smoothiest”

Spring is in the air, and that means it’s time to skip the coffee and reach for a refreshing smoothie instead. The milkshake’s healthier cousin, smoothies are a great way of getting all those fruits and veggies into your diet when you don’t find yourself making time to eat them.

Smoothies are great as a between-meal snack, or as a surprisingly filling breakfast before you start work. They’re nutritious, cheap, easy to make and most importantly, delicious!

All you need is some frozen fruit, water/juice/(soy)milk and a blender. You can get a magic bullet or use a handheld immersion blender. Make your smoothie ahead of time because, unless you want to carry your blender around on your back, they may be tricky to make on a camping trip...unless you have an eco friendly bicycle blender!

Smoothies are also a great way to make use of overripe fruits that might otherwise be thrown out. What a waste that would be! Think of all those freckled and browning bananas gathering fruit flies.

Tasty Tip: When you find yourself with an overabundance of bananas or other produce, you can always peel them, cut them up, and put them in a sealable bag and then in the freezer to be eaten in future smoothies.

More tips:

1. Fruit: ½ cup each of your choice: frozen mangoes, bananas, pear, blueberries, strawberries, pineapple

2. Liquid of your choice: add 1 cup of either milk, soy milk, orange juice, apple cider, plain yogurt and ½ water, or coconut milk (you can always do ½ cup juice/milk and ½ cup water). The proportions depend on how thick/liquid-y you like your smoothies. For a thicker drink, add more fruits than liquid or you can add ice cubes if the fruits aren’t frozen. If you want it more liquid-y add more water/juice a little at a time and blend until it’s the consistency you like.

3. Super Foods: for super nutritious smoothies: add 1-2 tablespoons of any of the following: ground flax seeds, almond or nut butter, 1 inch piece of ginger root, wheat germ, hemp seeds, chia seeds, maca powder, green smoothie mix or leaves/stems of green vegetables like kale!

4. Additional exotic flavours for fun: Cinnamon (works well with bananas and almond butter) or 1 teaspoon of orange blossom water (works well with orange juice base, scoop of plain yogourt, bananas and mangoes)

5. Additional sweetness: Add 1 tbs organic honey, maple syrup or 2 medjool dates! (Remember to take out the pits!)

6. Blend: to the consistency you like, pour some for a friend, and enjoy with a straw!

Pina Coolada Smoothie

¼ cup coconut milk
1 cup milk/soy milk
3 Ice cubes
2 pitted dates
1 frozen banana
½ cup frozen pineapple or mango chunks

Add all ingredients into blender and puree until smoothe, about 2-3 minutes.

Optional: add 1 teaspoon of hempseeds/ground flax, or top with mint leaves