Warmer weather brings on lighter, fruitier foods. What better way to bring on the sun than with a fresh smoothie? Smoothies make great post-workout pick-me-ups, or casual study snacks. Below are seven smoothie recipes to prepare you for sunnier days. All seven smoothie recipes come from Annie’s Noms, an online foodie blog.
Mango Lime Smoothie
Ingredients
Juice of 1 small lime (or 1/2 large lime)
2 cups fresh mango chunks
1 cup ice cubes
2 tbsp agave nectar/honey/sweetener (you may not need any depending how sweet the mangoes are)
Instructions
Place lime juice, mango chunks and ice into a blender and pulse until smooth.
Taste and then add sweetener of choice, if using. Pulse until blended.
Serve immediately.
Cherry Cheesecake Smoothie
Ingredients
1/4 cup Lightest Philadelphia or other low-fat cream cheese
1/3 cup skimmed milk
1 cup frozen cherries, thawed
1-2 tsp sweetener, if required
1/2 graham cracker, crushed
Instructions
Place the cream cheese, skimmed milk and cherries into a blender and blitz until smooth, light and creamy, about 1 minute on high speed.
Taste and then add a little sweetener if required. Blitz for 10 seconds to mix in the sweetener.
Pour into a glass and sprinkle biscuit crumbs on top.
Serve immediately.
Apple and Blueberry Smoothie
Ingredients
1 large apple
1 cup Spinach
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup Fat free Greek Yogurt
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp flax seeds
Instructions
Peel apple and slice into chunks.
Place all ingredients into a large jug and blend with an immersion blender, or place ingredients into your blender and blitz until smooth.
Serve immediately.
Mango, Grapefuit, and Banana Smoothie
Ingredients
1 small red grapefruit, segmented and peeled
1 large mango, with flesh scooped out
1 large banana, previously sliced and frozen
1-2 tbsp sweetener of your choice
Instructions
Place grapefruit, mango and frozen banana into your blender and blitz until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute.
Add in sweetener a little at a time until the smoothie is sweet enough.
Serve immediately.
Strawberry Coconut Smoothie
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups strawberries hulled and halved
3/4 cup reduced fat coconut milk
1 medium sized banana, previously sliced and frozen
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
Instructions
Place strawberries and coconut milk into a blender and then top with frozen banana and desiccated coconut.
Blitz until smooth, begin by pulsing the mixture until the frozen banana has been blitzed, then continually blitz for around 30 seconds until the whole smoothie is gorgeously smooth!
Taste for sweetness, if required add a little agave nectar/honey/sweetener and then serve immediately.
Cherry and Banana Oat Smoothie
Ingredients
1 large banana, previously chopped into chunks and frozen
1 cup fresh cherries, halved and pitted
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Instructions
Place frozen banana, halved cherries, oats, milk, vanilla and salt into a blender/food processor or mini chopper. (I used a Tefal Multi Chopper)
Pulse the mixture for 1-2 minutes until everything is smooth.
Serve immediately.
Strawberry and Mango Smoothie
Ingredients
1 large banana, previously chopped and frozen
1 cup strawberries, hulled and halved
1 cup fresh mango, diced
1 cup milk
Instructions
Place the frozen banana in to a blender, followed by the strawberries, diced mango and milk.
Blitz ingredients together until everything is smooth, creamy and well combined.
Serve immediately.