SMOOTHIES GALORE, SWEET AND SAVOURY!

My family and friends often ask me for smoothie recipes and everytime - despite having this blog which I started so I could easily share recipes with everyone - I end up typing the recipes a few times to send to each person. So I decided to do a bit of a smoothie compendium. In this post I'm including some of the smoothies I make very often, if not almost everyday.

PRODUCE

Select fresh seasonal produce for your smoothies when its at peak flavour. There are some things I make a point to buy organic - herbs, tomatoes, root vegetables, apples, peaches, all berries, leafy greens, and corn- to name a few. But if you can't get organic produce, it's ok. Use whatever you get at your local market, just make sure its fresh and not wrinkled, stale looking, or partly rotten. Turmeric I always use raw but you could use powdered as well.

SEASONINGS

Remember that seasonings go a *long* way when blended so start small and add more if you want. I sometimes add a small amount of salt to my savoury smoothies because I like the slightly savoury element salt brings to the smoothie. You can, however, easily leave out the salt without negatively affecting the taste. Interestingly, celery adds a hint of saltiness to smoothies so you can use it instead if you wish. To savoury smoothies (sometimes also called raw soups) I add a bit of garlic, pepper, or crushed chile for a slight kick.

STORING SMOOTHIES

Smoothies and juices are of course best within 8-12 hours of blending, but if you really need to, you can safely store them in the fridge for 2 days. Or freeze them for a few days. Before I travel somewhere, I often freeze a couple of smoothies so I have a healthy meal or breakfast ready when I'm back.

Smoothies will develop flavour over a few hours, which is especially great when you're trying to ease into intense tasting things like kale, collard greens, mustard greens, etc. I don't ever have time to make smoothies in the morning so I make them at night and by the next morning, after everything has had time to meld together, I have a refreshing energising and filling bottle of the best meal ever!

The photos below are just ideas, feel free to modify ingredients based on whatever's in season or in your fridge. I don't use dairy in my smoothies and I also don't mix melons with other fruits. Herbs and greens like spinach are ok with melons. More on food combining later...