Five Glorious Whole-Food Smoothies

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By the Gracious Vegan

Delicious whole-food smoothies that are fast to make have eluded me for a long time. Either the easy recipes didn’t taste great, or the great-tasting recipes take too long. So I went at it myself and focused on a balance between taste and simplicity. I used only dried powdered spices and kept the base recipe the same for five variations. You’ll see a 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric in each variation. It’s so healthy for you and adds some nice yellow color. Cinnamon and ginger also bring a lot of antioxidants to the party. You can add any number of other superfoods (flaxseed meal, chia seeds or meal, hemp seeds, etc.) as you wish.

Makes a 2-cup smoothie

Base ingredients. Add the ingredients to the blender (either a bullet-type blender or regular blender) and blend on high for 20-60 seconds or until desired smoothness is reached. Add more water if too thick.

  • 1 banana, sliced and frozen (whenever a bunch of bananas is ripe, I slice up each one and spread out the slices in a bag or container so they don’t freeze in a clump)

  • 1/2 cup non-dairy milk

  • 1/2 cup water

  • Sweetener: 1-2 Tablespoons date paste, 1/2-1 Tablespoon maple syrup, or other sweetener of your choice to taste (note that just throwing in a couple of dates didn’t work for me—the blender didn’t pulverize them well enough.)

  • Additional super-foods (optional): 1/2-1 teaspoon amla powder (see What is Amla Powder?), 1 or more teaspoons hemp seeds, 2-3 teaspoons flaxseed meal, 2-3 teaspoons chia seeds

  • One of the following flavor combinations 

Creamy Chocolate Almond 

  • Base ingredients from above

  • 3/4 cup crushed ice

  • 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

  • 2 Tablespoons almond butter

  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric

Matcha Mango

  • Base ingredients from above

  • 1 cup frozen mango cubes

  • 1 cup fresh baby spinach leaves (or 1/2 cup frozen spinach)

  • 2 teaspoons matcha green tea powder

  • 1/4-1/2 teaspoon dried ginger

  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric

Zesty Mango

  • Base ingredients from above

  • 1 cup frozen mango cubes

  • Zest from one lime

  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric

  • Pinch cayenne pepper

Pink Blush 

  • Base ingredients from above

  • 1/2 cup frozen strawberries or raspberries

  • 1/2 cup frozen mango or peach cubes

  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric

Gingery Blueberry 

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  • Base ingredients from above

  • 1 cup frozen blueberries 

  • 1/4-1/2 teaspoon dried ginger

  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric

Timing: Less than 10 minutes

Gluten-free