Food / 4 January, 2023 / My Baba

Delicious Smoothies And Juices To Brighten Up Dull (Or Dry) January

Whether you’re dry this January (we all know this can be a total slog) or still resolving to be extra healthy, do not worry – new inspiration is here to help you battle temptation. Why not try some of these delicious non-alcoholic drinks and smoothies, guaranteed to brighten up any dull January day.

Banana and Raspberry Sesame Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 medium banana, frozen
• 2 tbsp tahini
• 1 tbsp agave nectar
• 1 handful rasberries
• 250ml almond milk

Method

1. Chop the frozen banana roughly into 3cm slices and add to the blender with the tahini, agave nectar, raspberries (these can be fresh or frozen) and almond milk.
2. Whizz until combined. Serve immediately or pour into a bottle, flask or jar to take to work.

Spiced Sangrita

Ingredients

• 700ml tomato juice
• 350ml freshly squeezed orange juice (from 4 large oranges)
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1 green chilli, deseeded and very finely diced
• ¼ tsp celery salt, plus more for the glasses
• green olives, to garnish
• orange slices, to garnish

Method

1. In a large jug, mix together the tomato juice, orange juice, lime juice, chilli and celery salt. Chill for at least 1 hr until very cold. To serve, dip the rims of 6 small tumblers in celery salt (optional), then divide the sangrita between them.
2. Garnish each glass with green olives and orange slices, if you like.

Creamy mango & coconut smoothie

Ingredients

• 200ml (½ tall glass) coconut milk (we used Kara Dairy Free)
• 4 tbsp coconut milk yogurt (we used Coyo)
• 1 banana
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseed, sunflower and pumpkin seed (we used Linwoods)
• 120g (¼ bag) frozen mango chunks
• 1 passion fruit, to finish (optional)

Method

Measure all the ingredients or use a tall glass for speed – they don’t have to be exact. Put them into a blender and blitz until smooth. Pour into 1 tall glass (you’ll have enough for a top up) or two short tumblers. Cut the passion fruit in half, if using, and scrape the seeds on top.

Elderflower, lemon & vanilla cordial

Ingredients

• 1kg caster sugar
• 2 unwaxed organic lemons, halved, plus a strip of peel
• 1 vanilla pod, seeds reserved
• 1 tbsp citric acid powder or vitamin C powder
• about 40 fresh elderflowers, shaken free of bugs, lightly rinsed

Method

Fill a large pan with 2 litres water. Add the sugar, lemons, vanilla pod and powder, and bring slowly to the boil. Boil rapidly until the mixture has reduced by half, then remove from the heat.

Add the elderflowers to the pan and stir gently. Leave to cool completely, then pass through a sieve lined with muslin into another clean pan. Whisk in the vanilla seeds and store the cordial in sterilised bottles with a strip of peel and the vanilla pod added (see tips below). To make a refreshing drink, use 1 part cordial to 5 parts iced water.

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Blackberry and apple crumble smoothie

Ingredients

• 300g/10½oz frozen mixed berries
• 1 apple, cored and sliced
• 200ml/7floz semi-skimmed milk
• 150g/5½oz fat-free natural yoghurt
• 25g/1oz porridge oats, with extra fibre
• 10g/¼oz flaked almonds

Method

Place the berries, apple, milk, yoghurt, oats and nuts in a blender and blend until smooth.

Add 75-100ml/2½-3½floz cold water, a little at a time, to achieve a smooth consistency and blend again.

Pour into glasses and serve.

Kiwi fruit, ginger and banana smoothie

Ingredients

• 3 kiwi fruit
• 4 tablespoons organic porridge oats
• 1 banana
• 8 ice cubes
• 200 ml organic milk
• 250 g organic fat-free natural yoghurt
• ½ cm piece fresh ginger , finely grated
• honey , optional

Method

Smoothies are usually the easiest way of encouraging your kids to try different types of fruit. Simply decide on a good combination of flavours, whiz it all up and drink! Kids will love to get involved with making these.

Top and tail the kiwi fruit and stand them on their ends. Slice the skin off in vertical strips with a sharp knife. Whiz the kiwi fruit with the remaining ingredients, apart from the honey, in a blender for 30 seconds and pour into 4 tall glasses. Sweeten with a little honey, if you like.

Lavender Lemonade

Ingredients

• A small handful of freshly picked and rinsed lavender flowers or a tablespoon of dried lavender flowers
• 1 cup white, granulated sugar
• 2 cups of boiling water for the infusion
• 1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 cups or more of cold water
• Ice

Method

Cut the lavender flowers from the stems (no need to strip) and place in a medium bowl (a large pyrex measuring bowl works great because you can pour easily from it). Pour the sugar over the flowers and use your (clean) fingers to gently rub the flowers into the sugar.

Pour 2 cups of boiling water over the lavender sugar and stir with a spoon until the sugar has melted. Cover and let infuse for 30 minutes (or up to several hours).

Strain the lavender-infused simple syrup and pour into a serving carafe or pitcher.

Stir in the lemon juice.  Add another two cups of water. Taste and adjust for tartness. Add more lemon juice if too sweet.  Add more sugar if too tart. Add ice and more water to desired level of concentration. Note that the ice will melt eventually, further diluting the drink.

Add some thinly sliced lemons and a few lavender sprigs to the serving pitcher for presentation.

Kiwi, Mint and Pineapple

Ingredients

• handful ice cubes
• 4 kiwis, 3 peeled and chopped, 1 sliced for decoration
• 400g pineapple chunks
• 3 mint sprigs, leaves picked, plus extra sprigs to serve

Method

1. Put all of the ingredients apart from the decorative kiwi slices and extra mint sprigs in a food processor or blender, then blitz until smooth.
2. Divide between 4 small glasses or 2 larger ones, then top with a mint sprig and a slice of kiwi.

Tip: Use a vegetable peeler to peel the kiwi fruit, then trim the ends with a sharp knife before chopping.

Orange Dream Creamsicle

Ingredients

• 1 navel orange, peeled
• ¼ c fat-free half-and-half or fat-free yogurt
• 2 Tbsp frozen orange juice concentrate
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• 4 ice cubes

Method

Combine the orange, half-and-half or yogurt, orange juice concentrate, vanilla, and ice cubes. Process until smooth.

Layered Smoothies

Ingredients

For the Mango-Peach layer

• 2 very ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted and diced
• 2 very ripe peaches, peeled, pitted and diced
• 1 cup mango or peach nectar
• 1 cup 2-percent Greek yoghurt
• Lime juice
• Honey

For the Strawberry-Banana layer

• 2 pints ripe strawberries, hulled and halved
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 frozen ripe bananas
• 1 cup 2-percent Greek yoghurt
• Lemon juice
• Finely diced mango and peach, for garnish
• Finely diced strawberries, for garnish

Method

For the mango-peach smoothie: Add the mangoes, peaches, nectar and yoghurt to a blender and blend until smooth. Add lime juice and honey to taste if needed. Pour into a pitcher and refrigerate until very cold.

For the strawberry-banana smoothie: Combine the strawberries and sugar in a bowl and let macerate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Add the macerated strawberries and some of the juices, the frozen banana and yoghurt to a blender and blend until smooth. Add lemon juice to taste if needed. Pour into a pitcher and refrigerate until very cold.

Green Tea, Blueberry, and Banana

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp water
• 1 green tea bag
• 2 tsp honey
• 1½ c frozen blueberries
• ½ med banana
• ¾ c calcium fortified light vanilla soy milk

Method

Microwave water on high until steaming hot in a small bowl. Add tea bag and allow to brew 3 minutes. Remove tea bag. Stir honey into tea until it dissolves.

Combine berries, banana, and milk in a blender with ice crushing ability.

Add tea to blender. Blend ingredients on ice crush or highest setting until smooth. (Some blenders may require additional water to process the mixture.) Pour smoothie into tall glass and serve

Dairy-free banana and berry smoothie

Ingredients

• 4 very ripe bananas, peeled, broken into chunks and frozen
• 200g (7oz) frozen berries
• 450ml (3/4 pint) rice, soya or nut milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

In a blender or food processor, blitz 1/4 of the frozen bananas and berries with half the rice milk until smooth.

Gradually add in the remaining banana chunks, berries, rice milk and vanilla extract until everything is smooth and very well combined, this may take a few minutes.

This recipe makes a thick smoothie. Simply add more rice milk for a lighter version. Serve immediately.

Mojito magic

Ingredients

• 1 apple, cored and chopped
• 1/4 cucumber, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 lime, juice only
• 4 mint leaves, only
• 100ml (3 1/2fl oz) sparkling water

Method

Place all the ingredients in a juicer and blend.

Divide between glasses and top up with the sparkling water.

Tip: For a smoothie, place the apple, cucumber, lime juice and 4 mint leaves into a blender along with the water. Whiz together until really smooth. Fill up glasses with more mint sprigs and ice. Divide the juice between the glasses and then top up with sparkling water to serve.

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