Tag: green smoothie

Ultracreamy Green Smoothie (with secret ingredient!)

Published on by nathaliejasmin20191 Comment

No food blog – and no hipster café – is complete without a green smoothie nowadays. And that’s why I don’t want to hold back with my ultracreamy green smoothie.

Green smoothies can be a bit like cold vegetable soup. They are usually not creamy and indulgent unless they have lots of avocado and/or nut butters in. Now, dont get me wrong, avocado is definitely one of the healthiest foods under the sun and I love them (Avocado tarts or avocado brownies, anyone?). If you are trying to limit the fats in your diet, however, or have financial constraints (as avos can be rather exxy), they might not be your first choice. Thankfully, you can have an ultracreamy green smoothie without the fat – and we are not talking a chemical crap fest here like many things are that are labelled “low fat”, we are talking…beans.

Yes, you read that right. This smoothie contains beans. The protein and starch in the beans provides for ultimate creaminess, bulk and fluffiness as you would normally only achieve by putting LOTS of bananas and LOTS of avocado in. Just 2 tablespoons of any beans mean that you save a lot of avocado fats and banana sugar and still devour ultracreamy goodness! Not to mention that this sneaky addition costs you, like, between 10 and 20 cents, even if you buy organic. So how does that sound?

This smoothie is not only ultracreamy and ultradelicious, it is also ultragood for you. We all know the benefits of leafy greens which should be on our menu daily. The reality is, thinking of a fancy dinner involving several types of leafy greens is a nice idea for us that is hard to put into practice. I am a full-time working mum so I know how hard it can be to get your daily serves of veggies in! A green smoothie is the quickest, easiest and yummiest way to start the day on the right foot or get that mid-afternoon lift you are craving.

Adding beans does not only provide bulk and creaminess, with their protein and fibre this smoothie will keep you full for a long time!

Are you in?

Ultracreamy Green Smoothie
Ultracreamy Green Smoothie
Ultracreamy Green Smoothie

Serves one

2 handfulls of kale or lettuce
2 handfulls of spinach or silverbeet
1 frozen banana
2 tbsp tinned beans of choice
1/2 cup coconut water (or other liquid of choice)
1 scoop vegan protein powder
matcha powder or other greens powder (optional)
any other supplements such as probiotics, maca, ashwagandha… (optional)
a handfull of ice cubes

Blend all ingredients bar the ice cubes in a high-powered blender until smooth. Add the ice cubes and blitz in.

Enjoy!

Tropical Superfood Shake

Published on by nathaliejasmin2019Leave a comment

Anyone who has ever lived in Melbourne or has spent some time in this city knows that the weather here is pretty -ahem- moody, to say the least. Temperature differences of up to 20 degrees from one day to the next are not a rarity! Needless to say your immunity gets quite a good workout all year round which is why it is extra important to get those greens in!

I love smoothies and shakes as they are so filling and satisfying without clogging your stomach and you can put all the goodness you want in them in just a couple of minutes flat! They are my go-to breakfast if I don’t have time to prepare porridge or just crave something light before a workout. Smoothies also work great as an afternoon pick-me-up and I tend to put my supplements such as probiotics and maca powder in them. And because their texture is so creamy and luscious I always have the feeling I’m devouring a naughty icecream when I am actually consuming concentrated goodness!

I usually make a shake/smoothie (bowl) every day and experiment with different flavour combinations. I love this one as it is sooo good for you yet tastes really sweet and creamy thanks to banana and mango! It is also completely vegan while giving the impression you are having a milkshake. You can add some vegan protein powder to ramp up the protein. I happened to have a lot of kale and spinach from my vegetable box delivery so to prevent them from going bad, I actually washed and chopped the kale and spinach and froze them in individual portions in ziploc bags! This way, I always have some frozen greens as a “smoothie kit”. You can of course use fresh kale/spinach. The same goes for bananas. I think everyone should have frozen chopped bananas in the freezer at any given time but if you only happen to have fresh bananas like I did at the time, it’s completely fine to use a fresh banana and some icecubes.

Tropical Superfood Shake
Immune-boosting supershake
Immune-boosting supershake

Makes 1 generous portion

2 cups “liquid” (I used half water and half orange juice, but coconut water, your favourite juice or your plant milk of choice would all be great options)
1 large ripe banana, frozen and chopped, or fresh plus a handfull of icecubes
1 cup frozen mango
1-2 handfulls kale and/or spinach, frozen or fresh
green powder, maca, probiotic powder etc. (optional)

Blend all ingredients in a high powered blender until smooth (it might take a couple of rounds of blending).

Enjoy!