Banana Vanilla Smoothie

When I was a kid, every mall had an Orange Julius kiosk and every grocery store sported dry-mix packets of faux fruity milkshakes. (I absolutely loved those kiosks and those little packages.) I’m still a big fan of creamy fruit shakes, but nowadays I go the qualitarian route: whole milk plus suitable fruit (bananas, pears, and berries seem to be the best) plus dash of vanilla. Eureka! You have your creamy, fruity shake. Without the questionable powdery stuff.

A word to the wise on the vanilla front: I recently upgraded my vanilla to Nielsen-Massey vanilla. These people know their vanilla, and it shows! (And tastes!) Just about all they do is vanilla…which is far more complex than you’d think.  Madagascar vanilla, Tahitian vanilla, Mexican vanilla; vanilla extract, vanilla powder, vanilla paste. And a few other extracts, like coffee and almond.

The point here is that the Nielsen-Massey vanilla is BY FAR the best vanilla I’ve ever used, and it especially comes through in minimal-ingredient situations like this smoothie. Or vanilla water, which is where you just trickle a bit of vanilla extract into a glass of ice water. Bottom line: it is absolutely worth seeking out Nielsen-Massey vanilla. I ordered a 32-ounce bottle of it and just keep refilling my standard small bottle whenever I run out. You’ll pay the same amount for a 32-ounce bottle of their insanely fabulous vanilla as you would if you did your normal thing and eventually bought eight not-nearly-as-good 4-ounce bottles at the store. And vanilla can be stored nearly indefinitely in a cool, dark place.

Banana Vanilla Smoothie

1 ripe banana, peeled
2 ice cubes
1 cup whole milk, preferably from grass-fed cows, OR whole coconut milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla, Nielsen-Massey if you can get it

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until frothy and smooth.

Best. Smoothie. Ever.

Enjoy!

Cantaloupe, Orange & Coconut Smoothie

‘Tis the season to seek out lush summer melons and enjoy them any which way you can. Right now, cantaloupes, watermelons, honeydews, crenshaws — even lesser-known melons like piel de sapo, or “toad skin” — are crowding the produce bins. You can trim away the hard rinds, then chop the flesh and add it to fruit salads, cereal, and salsas … or you can blend melons into smoothies or freeze them into homemade popsicles. You can even go the savory route and include melons in main dishes. Chicken sautéed with melons and grapes? Sounds pretty good to me. Or the classic cheese-plate-for-dinner idea: include a variety of cheeses, some sliced melons, whole-grain crackers or flatbreads, maybe some high-quality cured meats made from grass-fed [insert your animal of choice here]. Simple, elegant, and delicious!

Cut melon usually lasts a few days in the fridge if you tightly wrap the cut half to slow down the premature softening process. Chopped or cubed melon usually lasts overnight; you could use half of a large melon the night before in a salsa or fruit salad (or as dessert) and then blend the remaining cubed melon in the morning for a smoothie.

Cantaloupe, Orange & Coconut Smoothie

Blend a few slices of cantaloupe with the juice of 1 orange and about 1/4 cup of coconut milk. If you’re more into melon than coconut, use 2 oranges and just a dash of coconut. You could also pour this smoothie into popsicle molds and stick it in the freezer for a few hours to make homemade freezer pops. Or freeze the smoothie into ice cube trays for future smoothies — just add a little more orange juice and/or coconut milk, re-blend, and enjoy a slushie-smoothie!

Enjoy!

Watermelon Chai Smoothie

I’d be willing to bet that most people would say that summer = watermelon and watermelon = summer. You can’t have one without the other. Just ask my watermelon-loving friend. Her superpower is eating an entire watermelon in one sitting … although then she groans about having “watermelon belly.” Good thing watermelons aren’t in season year-round!

While I can’t eat an entire watermelon in one sitting, it is one of my favorite summer fruits, especially when it’s served cold. And because it’s so watery, watermelon makes a great smoothie — you almost don’t have to add anything else. I did decide to pour in some of my leftover chai tea, though, in the hopes of tempering the watermelon’s sweetness a little bit. It was a great combination! I think any tea would pair pleasantly with watermelon (which is, after all, mostly sweetness), but the spices in the chai provide a particularly welcome backdrop to the smoothie. If you don’t have chai/spiced tea on hand, you could add a few shakes of the spices that make up chai: cinammon, ginger, cloves, allspice, and/or cardamom. Pour in a splash of water if the smoothie seems too thick.

Watermelon Chai Smoothie

Cut the flesh of a watermelon into chunks and place in a blender. Pour in a half-glass of chai tea and blend. Add more chai if the smoothie seems to be too thick. I used one quarter of a personal-sized “baby” watermelon and a half-glass of strong chai (steeped overnight) to make mine. If you like, blend in a few ice cubes as well.

Enjoy!

Honeydew Smoothie

What to do when a friend gives you the gift of perfectly sweet honeydew?  It depends how quickly you want to enjoy it!  I thought about blending it with coconut milk and honey to make ice cream, but then I decided that I didn’t want to wait for the ice cream maker to do its thing, so I made smoothies with it instead.  (And saved a few wedges to have with my lunch and dinner the following day.)

I’m not sure why you don’t see more smoothies made with melons — honeydew, cantaloupe, and watermelon all blend into sweet, frothy-light drinks.  Tart-sweet juicy fruits like citrus and pineapple provide the perfect undertone for the floral-sweet flavor of melons.  For this glass, I opted to add a dash of spicy ginger, too.

Honeydew Smoothie

Blend coarsely chopped honeydew flesh with enough fresh orange juice to make a frothy-thick smoothie, adding more juice if you’d like it to be thinner.  (I used the juice of 1 orange and about 1 1/2 cups of honeydew.)  Add a dash of ginger – ginger is potent stuff, so just a pinch per glass will do — and briefly blend again.

Enjoy!

Pear & Banana Smoothie

“Oh, the weather outside is frightful”…so let’s pretend we’re someplace a bit more tropical with a refreshing smoothie in our hand.  After this much snow, I’m okay with the idea of being a bit unseasonal and including a summery banana with a wintery pear.  Using coconut milk rather than dairy is another good way to add to the tropical feeling.

If you’d rather stick to more winter-appropriate fruit, though, you could always go with a ripe Fuyu persimmon in place of the banana.  Just make sure you choose a Fuyu and not a Hachiya — the Hachiya variety takes much longer to ripen and is very, very astringent until it does.  The Fuyu, on the other hand, gradually sweetens as it ripens, so if you accidentally choose one that’s a little underripe, you’ll still be able to make a tasty smoothie with it.

Pear & Banana Smoothie
This makes enough for 1 hearty serving; feel free to multiply the ingredient amounts to reflect however many portions you need.

1 firm but brown (not green!) Bosc pear, core and stem removed, cut into quarters or rough chunks
1 medium banana
Splash of coconut milk (or dairy, or nut, or grain, or whatever else you’d like)
Dash of ground ginger (optional)

Blend all ingredients until you have a smoothie that’s as thick or thin as you want it to be, adding more milk if necessary. Likewise, if you overdo the milk and want to make your smoothie thicker, cut another banana in half and add it a half at a time. (Unpeeled-but-cut-in-half bananas will seal themselves and will last for several days at room temp, so any leftover halves won’t go to waste.) I like adding a bit of ginger to give the smoothie a bit of a spicy kick.

Note that the smoothie will darken a little upon standing — that’s the pear oxidizing and turning brown after having been puréed — but the color won’t affect the taste.

Enjoy!

Banana-Macadamia Coconut Milk

As my regular readers know, when I discover a new ingredient or a new way to use a tried-and-true ingredient, I go on a [fill in the blank] kick.  This time, it’s macadamia nut butter.  I started out dipping 90% dark chocolate squares into it (UNbelievable!), then made salad dressings out of it, and now am making smoothies with it.  I’m sure there will be more macadamia nut butter variations to come…

Seeing as macadamia nuts are so smooth and creamy, they would work with any fruit and any kind of milk (dairy, nut, grain, etc.).  I just happened to have bananas and coconut milk on hand, so I went with that, but feel free to use whatever fruit and milk you have handy!

Banana-Macadamia Coconut Milk
Serves 1 big breakfast-sized serving or 2 small snack-sized ones.

1 banana
1 big spoonful of macadamia nut butter
1/2 cup whole coconut milk*
1/2 cup water
Pinch of ground cinnamon or ginger
2-3 organic strawberries** (optional, but they turn the smoothie a lovely pink)

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth, then serve immediately. A single strawberry perched on the edge of the glass would make a nice garnish.

* Note it makes more sense to buy whole coconut milk and then dilute it yourself: you’ll get a product that tastes much better, you’ll save money, and nutritionally speaking, you’ll get a far better product. The same logic applies to dairy milk.

** Since strawberries are one of the most heavily sprayed crops in the U.S. and since we eat their skins, it makes sense to buy the organic version.

Apricot, Date & Coconut Smoothie

Dates are fabulously useful!  Just don’t confuse them with figs, which are also lovely but which don’t have the staying power or sweetness of dates.  (And don’t confuse fresh figs with the gritty stuff inside Fig Newtons — an actual fig tastes much lighter and fruitier, plus it beautifully shades from pink to cream to tan and back again.)  Dates are a hardy lot, prized throughout the world for their lush sticky sweetness and their ability to hold things together.  Lärabars, for example, are bar-shaped thanks to mashed dried dates.  Many cakes and breads of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern origin are both shaped and sweetened by dates.

Because dates contain such a high percentage of natural sugar, dried dates preserve themselves quite nicely.  (Sugar is a preservative.)  In fact, once they’ve lost enough moisture, dried dates can be ground into date “sugar.”  It doesn’t dissolve as readily as cane sugar does, but date sugar is pleasantly sweet and retains a mild, mellow date flavor that pairs perfectly with less-sweet fruits like apricots and strawberries.

One of my favorite ways to use date sugar is in smoothies.  I came up with this smoothie because my apricots were a bit on the tart side — adding date sugar was the perfect solution.  You can find date sugar nestled alongside the other natural sugars in health-food/whole-food stores.  (If you spot a bag of sucanat, pick that up, too!)

Apricot, Date & Coconut Smoothie

To make a single-serving smoothie, blend together 1 apricot (pit removed, but skin left on), 1/2 cup whole coconut milk, 1/4 cup cold water, and 1 T. date sugar.  If you’d like your smoothie to be extra-thick, use less water and more milk; if you’d like it to be thinner, reverse the equation.  You could also use dairy milk, but I think the tropical palm + palm combination (i.e., coconut + date) is a tasty one.  If you’d like your smoothie to be sweeter, simply add more date sugar.

Enjoy!

The Jill

In the tradition of memorable beverages like the Harvey Wallbanger and the Arnold Palmer, I’m going to name my most recent smoothie/cocktail creation after my friend Jill.  Why?  Because she’s nuts about watermelons — she’s capable of consuming an entire melon in one sitting.  (I wish I could do the same with my beloved pineapples, but my tongue turns fuzzy after eating less than half of one.)

While I’m not quite as ardent about watermelons as Jill is, I agree that they’re one of the best fruits of summer: they’re messily fun to eat, you can have pit-spitting contests with seeded watermelons, and seedless varieties make a great base for a blended beverage.  Their extreme sweetness also means that they pair well with almost any other kind of fruit.  When choosing watermelons, look for ones that are unblemished and heavy for their size.  A slight yellowing at the stem plus a pronounced watermelon fragrance are usually good indications that the melon is ripe.  If none of the melons match that description, just plan on letting a melon ripen on your countertop (out of direct sunlight) for a few days.

The Jill

Blend trimmed chunks of seedless watermelon with a few fresh mint leaves and a spoonful of coconut milk until you reach your desired consistency.  (More watermelon = more watery and more coconut milk = thicker.)  For this martini-sized portion, for example, I used a quarter of a baby watermelon, a tablespoonful of coconut, and four mint leaves.  Other good additions include tropical fruits and/or any member of the berry family.  I used my remaining melon to make a smoothie with papaya, coconut, and mint one day; the next, I made one with strawberry, coconut, and mint.  Yum!

Pour smoothie (or cocktail, if you add a shot of rum while blending) into a striking glass, garnish with a sprig of mint, and serve.  You can serve The Jill on the rocks if you like, or you can toss a few ice cubes into the mix when you first blend your drink.

Enjoy!

Macadamia Mango Mousse

Upfront disclosure to the mousse die-hards out there: this is not a true mousse.  True mousses are made with eggs — they’re the key ingredient, in fact — whereas this one is made with macadamia nut butter.  Still, the nutty richness of the macadamia butter is very reminiscent of an eggy richness, and both the nut butter and fresh mango lend this faux-mousse an incredible smoothness.  The chai tea gives it all an exotic, spicy flavor.  (The macadamia nut butter is worth seeking out for this recipe because it’s so creamy and yet easily blends into the background; peanut butter would be far, far too strong and would override the delicate chai.  I think it would also clash with the mango.  Cashew butter is your next-best bet if you can’t find macadamia nut butter.)

Macadamia Mango Mousse (which happens to be egg- and dairy-free)
This is enough for a single serving of mousse. Double or triple (or more) as necessary.

1 ripe mango, peeled and chopped (you can use frozen mango chunks, but the mousse won’t have the lightness you’re looking for)
1 T. macadamia nut butter
1/2 cup strongly-steeped chai tea (I used the leftover pot of chai I’d made the night before)

Place all ingredients in blender and blend just until smooth. (Since you’re starting out with soft ingredients, blending shouldn’t take more than 10 seconds.) If you’d like the consistency to be a bit thicker, add another tablespoon of macadamia nut butter. If you’d prefer to have a smoothie rather than a mousse, add another 1/2 cup of chai tea.

Spoon/pour into pretty glass and serve.

Enjoy!

Mexican Papaya Smoothie

Here’s some fruit trivia for the day: what’s the difference between a Hawaiian papaya and a maradol papaya?  The latter is from Mexico and is visually very different than the vaguely-pear-shaped Hawaiian variety — maradols are almost a foot long and have much darker flesh.  Both, however, have a wonderfully smooth tropical flavor; both blend well with other tropical fruits like coconut, banana, and pineapple; and both have peppery black seeds that can be used as edible garnish or dried and used the way you’d use black peppercorns.  (And both are sometimes used as vegetables when they’re still green and un-sweet.)

Although the maradol has a slightly milder flavor than its more-bulbous Hawaiian cousin, its vivid color makes it an appealing choice for smoothies and cocktails.  Because it’s so much bigger, too, you can eat it like a watermelon: cut it in half long-ways, scoop out the seeds, and slice it into wedges with the skin still attached.  The other great thing about maradols is that they can be quite a bargain — the last time I bought one, it cost $1 less than a Hawaiian papaya and weighed about four times as much.  Holy tropical treat, Batman!

An Easy Papaya Smoothie (with either Hawaiian or maradol papayas)

Trim skin away from papaya flesh, cut into rough chunks, and place  in a blender with a squirt of lemon juice and a handful of ice cubes.  If you’re using the smaller Hawaiian papaya, prepare an entire fruit; if you’re using a maradol papaya, cut into quarters and trim flesh from only one quarter, wrapping the remainder in plastic wrap and storing it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Blend fruit until you have a smooth, icy drink, then serve immediately.  A wedge of lemon and/or sprig of fresh mint would be a nice garnish.

Enjoy!

PB&C (Peanut Butter & Cocoa)

Who doesn’t like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup?  Peanut butter and chocolate just go together.  But I guarantee that once you make your own PB&C in solid form or smoothie/shake form, you won’t ever want to go back to the prepackaged kind.  The homemade variety tastes better, it’s a whole lot better for your health, AND you probably already have the ingredients for it on hand.

In the interest of brevity, I’ll just put it this way:

Milk Chocolate, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Chocolate, Milk Non-Fat, Milk Fat, Lactose, Soy Lecithin, PGPR, Emulsifiers, Peanut(s), Dextrose, Salt, TBHQ (off the Reese’s label)

OR

Whole milk , 100% peanut butter, cocoa powder, maple syrup (out of your own blender).

Seriously, you gotta try making your own!  I swear you’ll never want a commercial PB&C again.

Liquid PB&C

Blend 1 cup whole milk (preferably from grass-fed cows, like Calder’s or Organic Valley), 1 T. 100% peanut butter, 1 T. cocoa powder, and 1 T. maple syrup (preferably Grade B) until smooth.  Enjoy!

Traditional PB&C

Dunk a square of dark chocolate (at least 70%; I go for 90%) in 100% peanut butter.  Enjoy!

Banana-Avocado Smoothie

In the U.S., we tend to view avocadoes as a savory vegetable, to be served alongside tacos as guacamole or to be sliced and used as a sandwich topping.  In other areas of the world, though, you’re just as likely to find avocadoes on the dessert menu:  in Tanzania, avocado ice cream is a favorite; in Brazil, you can enjoy avocado pudding.  (Being an avocado fiend, I’ve made both, and yes, they’re delicious!)

So why not blend avocado into a morning smoothie? The thought struck me as I was taking stock of my fruit basket and realizing I was down to bananas.  They’re both tropical, they’re both creamy, and to top it off, I had some leftover coconut milk from having made a curry dish the night before.  The idea was too good to pass up.  The resulting drink is too good to pass up, too — if you want an exotic, smooth way to start your morning, give it a try!

Banana-Avocado Smoothie

For one serving, blend half an avocado and half a banana with about a cup of coconut milk or regular dairy milk.  (Check out Avocadoes:  The Ultimate Condiment for more info on selecting and storing avocadoes, including leftover halves.)  Take a moment to admire the beautiful pale peridot hue before transporting yourself to paradise!

Pecan & Banana Smoothie

Making this smoothie is as easy as pie–and since it has a healthy helping of pecans accented by spices, it even tastes a bit like a pecan pie. I used almond milk as the base, but you could also use hazelnut, oat, or high-quality dairy milk. (Raw and grass-fed if you can get it!)

The Greek yogurt rounds out the velvety flavor of the banana. Pears would also work well with the pecans, although the final texture might be a little bit gritty compared to the smoothness of the banana. (Tip: now that summer is on its way, you can make a cool fruit soup for dessert by not adding enough liquid to make a smoothie!)

Pecan & Banana Smoothie

In blender, combine:

1 banana
About 1 cup of almond milk (start with about 3/4 cup; you may need to add more for a more drinkable consistency)
Small handful of pecans (about 2 T.)
Small handful of unsweetened coconut flakes (about 2 T.)
Spoonful of Greek yogurt
Sprinkling of cinnamon
Sprinkling of ginger

Blend well and serve in a pretty glass.

Enjoy!

Banana & Flaxseed Smoothie

Here’s a lush breakfast treat:  a banana-flaxseed smoothie.  Only having three ingredients makes it simple, the combination of organic milk (or non-dairy milk) and banana makes it velvety-smooth, and the flaxseeds give it a nice boost of flavor.  They also lend the smoothie a healthy dose of omega-3s since flaxseeds are higher in omega-3s than almost any other foodstuff.  You can find ground flaxseed in the flour section of most health-food stores and some grocery stores.  (I found mine at Trader Joe’s.)  Be sure to choose a brand that’s sold in an opaque bag–its high levels of omega-3s make flaxseed delicate and prone to spoiling, a process that will be sped along if the seeds are exposed to light.  (This tendency explains part of why food manufacturers have moved away from using foods high in omega-3s in their commercial goods.  Short shelf life = high amounts of spoilage = smaller profits.  Walnut and pecans are also high in omega-3s and will go rancid far more quickly than almonds or cashews; if you’re looking for walnut oil to dress your salads, try to find a brand that’s sold in opaque bottles.)

For an individually-sized smoothie, blend:  1 banana, 2 tsp. ground flaxseed, and 1 cup of organic milk (or non-dairy milk).  If you’d like to spice things up, add a sprinkling of cinnamon and a drop or two of vanilla extract.  Or add a teaspoon or two of cocoa powder and a drizzle of honey for an intriguing chocolate dessert.

Enjoy!

Here’s an easy way to recreate that childhood flavor in a modern, healthy way: fill a glass halfway with organic milk and top it off with fresh orange juice. Add a splash of vanilla extract (about 1/8 tsp.), stir, and enjoy!  If you want added frothiness, put it in the blender; if you’d like to make a frozen Orange Julius, add ice before blending.  Either way, you’ll be in for a healthy breakfast treat.