Chocolate beetroot brownie smoothie bowl

A little while back, I bought a bag of frozen beetroot with the view to adding it to smoothies. Several months later, just as the weather is turning cold, I finally gave it a go. The result was this chocolate beetroot brownie smoothie bowl - a thick, creamy, chocolatey mix that you can feel good about eating at any time of day.

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Overnight apple oats and a peanut butter green smoothie, for summer

It might not be the official start of summer here yet (although we are only a week off) but summer is very much in the air. The days are super long (it is light at 10pm!), the sun is shining, and the temperatures are tipping 25'C (hot for England!).

With this summery vibe, I have moved into hot weather territory for breakfast and snacking. In other words, I have re-introduced overnight oats and smoothies to my kitchen. Today's post shares the first of each for this summer season, and I hope you can draw some summer inspiration from them whatever your own weather is doing.

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Creamy blackberry vanilla smoothie

If I had to compile a list of the top 10 things I love about the UK (and it would be a difficult list to compile), I suspect picking wild blackberries would make it on there. To someone raised in Australia, blackberries are a novelty in their own right. To be able to walk 20 minutes from my house and pick them freely from bushes is amazing.

This smoothie features blackberries picked in such a way, but if you're not able to gather wild berries yourself, store bought, frozen or a different type of berry could be used instead. The other ingredients are simple: kale (for nutrition), avocado (for the creaminess), and vanilla (for a delicious flavour). You can make this with water or your milk of choice. It's not a super sweet smoothie, but it is sweet for a green smoothie in disguise. If you like sweeter drinks, adding a few dates or some liquid sweetener would do the trick.

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Chocolate raspberry green smoothie

Like so many things, my smoothie consumption goes through phases. I'll be obsessed for a while, then forget about them, then resume my love affair. With the warmer spring weather, I think a smoothie phase is starting up. This one was the perfect blend of nutritional benefits and delicious taste.

As the colour shows, I didn't use a vast amount of chocolate flavouring, but you definitely still taste it. I combined regular cocoa powder and cocoa-based protein powder (the same mix I mentioned earlier in the month). If you don't have protein powder, cocoa powder alone will suffice.

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Peach and mint green smoothie

I've had a slow start to smoothie drinking this summer. I accepted that as a phase and was confident my smoothie love would surface again eventually. Fortunately, it now has and I'm keen to make up for lost drinking time!

This peach and mint green smoothie was what heralded the switch from "I guess I could use up these greens in a banana smoothie, but I'm not sure I can be bothered" to "I really can't wait to whiz these ingredients up and drink them". It's a great summer smoothie, with the mint and peach pairing together beautifully and conjuring up images of beach-side cocktails.

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Berry citrus blitz smoothie, from Emily's 100 Best Juices, Smoothies and Health Snacks

Those of you who enjoy raw vegan desserts will probably be familiar with This Rawsome Vegan Life, which is run by Emily von Euw. Emily's raw vegan carrot cake provided inspiration for my version of the same, and I regularly admire her fresh, beautiful creations. She's not all about desserts either - drinks, savoury snacks and meals also grace her blog pages.

Berry citrus blitz smoothie

I am thus  pleased to provide a review of Emily's new book, 100 Best Juices, Smoothies and Healthy Snacks.  The book is delightfully diverse, with recipes such as carrot, apple and lime juice, chocolate mylk, power bar snacks, and the berry citrus blitz smoothie that I chose to test out. What is more, you don't need a juicer to make use of the book. Most of the recipes are made in a blender, whilst the snack items use a food processor.

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Red velvet smoothie

I didn't understand the appeal of red velvet cake until I saw a recipe that used beetroot to provide the crimson colour. Cake plus food colouring isn't really my thing, but cake plus a vegetable ingredient that turns everything a vibrant hue? I am very much in favour of that.

I am also very much in favour of this red velvet smoothie. As you may guess, beetroot also provides the colour here. However - don't panic! You would have to work very hard to detect any beetroot flavours. Instead, the drinking experience is akin to that of a chocolate thickshake. The thick texture comes from the use of both banana and sweet potato, whilst cocoa and dates provide the chocolate experience. The result is surprisingly decadent.

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Sweet potato and strawberry smoothie

I think I have used my NutriBullet daily since its purchase. It has produced a lot of smoothies, a few batches of frozen banana soft serve, and some ground almonds. The small size and easy clean up (aided by being able to drink smoothies from the jars they are blended in!) are fantastic perks, and make it really appealing to use. Plus, we seem to have brought a bit of Western Australian heat to the UK. Smoothies and frozen bananas are just right.

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Odds and ends snacks: Ginger and mesquite green smoothie and currant chickpea pancakes

As I have mentioned before, we didn't do a great job of running down ingredients before we moved. In part, this was because our move date was only confirmed 2.5 weeks before we left, and in part, this was because we have a tendency to stock up on food. That tendency does not pay off when moving house.

As a result, we ate some odd things before leaving Australia. I won't share the oddest with you, but the smoothie and pancakes in this post deserve to be made even if you aren't using up ingredients. Neither are very different to things I've made before, but the addition of mesquite to the smoothie, and the combination of currants and chickpea (besan) flour in the pancakes, made these stand out from past versions.

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Immunity smoothie (with science!)

I am usually a bit skeptical of foods and drinks that claim medicinal powers. In large part, this is because most claims don't come with supporting scientific data. I'm also aware that there are many myths about what does or doesn't help with various illnesses and ailments. I think we all have our personal "I think this works" approach! I'm not denying that there will be beneficial products or foods that aren't yet well studied - I am sure there are. However, I don't think firm claims should be made unless the data are already in.

Immunity smoothie - murky, but tasty

To give you an example, Vitamin C was lauded as a cure for the common cold for years. Many of us still think it helps to prevent illness, and vitamin companies trade off that belief to promote their products. However, there is no evidence to suggest that Vitamin C can prevent colds in the general population, and plenty to suggest that it only slightly reduces illness severity. Last year, a large Cochrane review (you can read it in full here) concluded that supplementation of Vitamin C (i.e., taking more than a regular dietary amount) may reduce the duration of a cold by 8% in adults or 14% in children. If you have a standard 5 day cold, this means that an adult taking extra Vitamin C from day 1 could feel better after 4.6 days instead of 5. I'd be happy with that, but it's not exactly a magic fix!

In contrast, zinc supplementation is associated with up to a 50% reduction in the likelihood of developing a cold, and the duration of a cold once developed (the Cochrane review on zinc is available here).

Zinc and Vitamin C

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Alternative green smoothies: sweet potato and almond (banana free!), and banana, mango and kale

I've been getting through a lot of green smoothies recently. In fact, I've started day dreaming about a blender for my workplace, so I can whip one up for my at-work breakfasts, or as a mid-afternoon snack, or an addition to lunch...or any time at all really. Sadly, I don't think that's on the cards, but I'm making the most of weekends and the weekdays I'm home in time to squeeze one in before dinner!

Sweet potato and almond green smoothie

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Pineapple-cherry-watermelon green smoothie - milk and banana free

I found the thought of going from winter-appropriate roast vegetables to a summer-appropriate icey smoothie amusing, so...here we are.

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Creamy smoothies: Peanut butter and carob (with broccoli!) and strawberry-mint-avocado (with cauliflower!)

I have given away the twist to these smoothies in the post's title. However, I figure that most of you are used to seeing odd things turn up in smoothies. It's not a big leap from spinach or kale to broccoli or cauliflower. So - I'm sharing the twist with you from the start and plan to use the rest of the post to convince you that these particular smoothie additions are worthwhile (and edible)!

I have a bit of an obsession with peanut butter and carob at the moment. To clarify: I have a bit of an obsession with peanut butter and carob together at the moment. I am obsessed with them on their own pretty much constantly. Now, I want them together in everything.

In smoothie form, this desire played out very well, in all ways except the photography aspect. To my shame, I snapped images on my phone only, and taking photos of a browny liquid in questionable lighting on my phone...well, the result wasn't great. I apologise. I was going to make another version before sharing this post, but I was so enamored with the drink that I thought you deserved to hear about it promptly.

The broccoli in this smoothie is limited to the broccoli stems. It's something I've been meaning to try it for some time, having seen the idea mentioned in various places over the years. The idea is that you have a container in your freezer that you add broccoli stems and/or other 'waste' vegetable or fruit components to, and then add them to your smoothies as desired. Once the broccoli stems are processed - and I use my food processor, not a high powered blender - they aren't noticeable at all. You end up with a creamy drink that is more like a thickshake than a smoothie, tasting as decadent as can be, but which incorporates broccoli that would otherwise be wasted. It's really quite brilliant.

Having used broccoli stems with success, the obvious next step was to try cauliflower stems. I added them to a variation of the strawberry, avocado and spearmint smoothie that Gena posted on Choosing Raw last week. 

As with the broccoli stems, the cauliflower wasn't noticeable once processed. This was also the first time I'd used avocado in a smoothie, and that wasn't noticeable either. It makes a nice change from bananas, in terms of thickening the texture and creating a creamy drink, and you could probably use water rather than milk for all of the liquid additions (I used half of each). Whilst I froze my avocado before blending, I'm not sure that's strictly necessary either.

Whether you make these particular drinks or just tuck the idea of broccoli and cauliflower stems away, I hope you end up with a smoothie that makes you as happy as these two made me!

Peanut butter and carob shake with broccoli

Serves one

Vegan

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Ingredients

1 medium banana, frozen

2 tsp carob powder (or cocoa powder; adjust to taste)

1 tbsp peanut butter (or any nut butter)

1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped broccoli stems, frozen

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used sweetened almond; or use coconut water or milk for a raw alternative)

Method

Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor, and process until smooth.

Strawberry-mint-avocado smoothie with cauliflower

Serves one

Vegan

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Ingredients

1/2 medium hass avocado, frozen

1 cup strawberries

1 small bunch mint leaves, removed from their stem

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped cauliflower stems, frozen

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used sweetened almond; or use coconut water or milk for a raw alternative)

Method

Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor, and process until smooth.

Submitted to 5 ingredient Mondays, 
Raw Foods Thursdays, and
Ricki's Wellness Weekend

What do you like to add to your smoothies?

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Welcome to summer: A collection of smoothies

The 1st December marked the official start of summer here in Australia. (We do our season changes at the start of the month, in contrast to the northern hemisphere.) With temperatures soaring in the Eastern states last week, and set to rise sharply in Western Australia this week, it does feel like summer is here and here to stay.

Given my dislike of temperatures above 30'C, I am repeating a mantra of "only two more summers until we move to England".

I am also reminding myself of how much I like summer fruit, the joy of frozen fruit ice cream on a hot summer afternoon, and the luxurious slide of a chilled smoothie down one's parched, hot throat.

I am definitely not thinking about the joy of being wrapped up inside with a book and a hot drink while rain patters on the window. Not thinking about that at all.

For my fellow Australians, here are six smoothie ideas to help kick off your summer. For those of you in wintery countries, you can enjoy these too - I actually made all of these over winter / spring myself. Just rug up warm, drink them near a heat source, and have a hot drink on stand-by for afterwards.

The smoothies are listed in a rough order that takes you from 'basic stand by' to 'could pass as dessert'. I have listed the milk I used for each one but you can substitute in any milk you like. If making these in a blender, just combine the ingredients and process. If using a food processor, leave the liquid out until the other ingredients are processed, and then add the liquid in gradually, so that it doesn't splash out the sides. I don't have a high-power blender so tend to use my food processor; even with that, my spinach is sometimes less processed than I might like!

All ingredient sets serve one, and err towards a small serve. Double ingredients if you like your smoothies served larger.

Banana-free green smoothie with strawberries

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 cup baby spinach leaves

~10 medium strawberries, stems removed and frozen (~1/2 cup)

1 tsp vanilla

Banana-free green smoothie with strawberries

Green smoothie with a hint of orange and vanilla
(I made this after juicing two oranges for Mr Bite and being left with orange pulp)

3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 cup baby spinach leaves

1 large banana, frozen

~2 tbsp orange pulp, or fresh orange or orange juice

Few drops vanilla essence

~1 tbsp hemp seeds or chia seeds (optional)

Green smoothie with a hint of orange and vanilla

Raspberry mint smoothie with hemp seed milk

3/4 cup hemp seed milk (or milk of choice; the hemp seed variety gives a slight nuttiness)

3/4 cup frozen raspberries

1/2 cup baby spinach leaves

2 fresh mint leaves (roughly chopped if your blender isn't as efficient as it could be)

Raspberry mint smoothie with hemp seed milk

Caffeinated banana pineapple smoothie

1 cup soy milk

1 medium banana, frozen,

1/2 cup (drained) tinned pineapple

1 tsp instant coffee powder

Caffeinated banana pineapple smoothie

Strawberry ice cream smoothie 

(this really did taste like strawberry ice cream!)

3/4 - 1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 medium banana, frozen

4 medium strawberries, stems removed

1 tbsp chia seeds

1 tsp vanilla essence

Strawberry ice cream smoothie

Strawberry mint smoothie with coconut

3/4 - 1 cup soy milk

1 medium banana, frozen

4 medium strawberries, stems removed

2 fresh mint leaves (roughly chopped if your blender isn't as efficient as it could be)

1 tbsp oats

1 tbsp dessicated coconut

You may notice that none of these are very 'green', in the sense that leafy vegetables don't feature highly. My lack of a high-power blender makes spinach the only vegetable I can smoothie-fy, but I do have a very green drink to share later in the week (I thought it deserved a post all of its own!).

Tell me - what is your favourite smoothie at the moment?

For another collection of smoothie recipes, see Theresa's post from last summer at The Tropical Vegan.

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What I've enjoyed this month: April 2012

Oh, April. Where do I start in recapping this month?!

I suspect it goes without saying that our engagement lifted the month to Very Memorable levels. Indeed, with the accompanying trip to Exmouth, the first week of April turned out to be one of the more memorable weeks of my life.

When we returned, there was Mr Bite's birthday, complete with two cakes, and the rest of the month seemed to go by in a bit of a blur.

With that being the case, there are still some 'normal' things that I've enjoyed in April. That afternoon spent in Fremantle was one, and making lavender biscuits was another. Here are some others.

Smoothies

I enjoy smoothies, but don't make them regularly. Several things have contributed to a smoothie run in April, including being able to run more consistently than injuries have made possible of late (smoothies post running are particularly good), and finding this milk:

Several Australian bloggers have already exclaimed their excitement over this reaching Australia, and I can only add mine. Not only is this almond milk cheaper than the brands I could previously find, it is available at my local supermarket (no driving around town to find it), has calcium, and is, as proclaimed above, unsweetened. I've updated my non-dairy milk spreadsheet to include it.

In the above smoothie collection we have;

• Almond milk, frozen banana, coffee and hemp seeds (top left and centre; I'm quite fond of this mix!)
• Almond milk, frozen mixed berries, coffee, and hemp seeds (bottom left; an optimistic twist on the banana, which didn't really work)
• Almond milk, frozen mixed berries, and that Vitarum sugar free drinking chocolate that I'm struggling to find uses for (right; surprisingly good)

There was also the green smoothie I enjoyed in Fremantle, and a few others haphazard creations not pictured here. Given that Perth's weather is finally getting cool, I'm not sure how long the smoothie kick will continue for, but it's been fun while its lasted.

Hemp Seeds and The Face of Birth

(I promise there is a link between these seemingly un-linked things...)

I was fortunate enough to receive not one but two give aways in April. The first was thanks to Theresa at The Tropical Vegan, who hosted a give away of hemp seeds provided by Hemp Seeds Australia.

I had hardly heard of hemp seeds prior to Theresa's post, and so was interested to read the nutritional benefits of them (they are sources of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and of protein). I was absolutely thrilled to then be given a pack to try, and have been adding them to all sorts of things ever since. I'll save the results for a dedicated hemp post, but suffice to say I'm enjoying them - one product is featured right, and you may have noticed that hemp seeds featured in many of my smoothies.

The second give away was a copy of The Face of Birth DVD from Brydie at cityhippyfarmgirl. In addition to feeling mildly guilty for receiving two free things, I initially felt a undeserving of this because (i) I haven't had children and (ii) having children isn't planned any time soon. However, I am so grateful to have been able to watch the film. It is one I think all women - particularly all Australian women - should be able to watch.

It's difficult to summarise this documentary. It focuses on childbirth and  the importance of being able to make choices about how, where, and with whom childbirth happens. Being set in Australia, it also talks about how Australia's medical system approaches pregnancy and birth, including the idea of home births, and how this compares to other countries.

Prior to watching the film, I had very little knowledge or understanding of home births. If the idea of childbirth was daunting, the idea of doing it at home was definitely scarier still! This isn't surprising, it turns out, because Australia doesn't really support home births. They occur in a tiny minority of cases, and nearly became illegal in 2009. Last year, Professor Fiona Stanley publically endorsed home births, and called for those who label them as "unsafe" to provide data to support such claims. Despite her reputation in the area of child health and development, she was criticised for her comments.

There were many things in the movie that were powerful, but two in particular I wanted to touch on. The first is that research suggests the risks associated with home births are the same as those associated with hospital births, for low risk pregnancies. The second is that other countries have a completely different stance on home births. In the UK, the National Health Service supports home births and births in non-hospital birthing suites, with these options receiving NHS support and being available as choices for all mothers.

I don't know if I'll ever want to deliver a baby at home, but I do know that if I'm ever pregnant I would like to be given choices, and not told something is dangerous if the data suggest it is not.

Given all of the above, I would be happy to send the Face of Birth DVD on to someone else if anyone is interested in watching it. If there are a few people, perhaps we can have a DVD migration around Australia. Just let me know in a comment or email if you would like to watch it.

After that lengthy section...

Purple carrots

After finding them in Coles, I was thrilled to discover them yesterday at the local weekend markets where I usually buy fruit and vegetables. It seems they are well and truly in Western Australia! I'm more than a little excited to be able to try more purple dishes.

Purple carrot muffins are currently dancing in my imagination, so I think it's safe to say we'll be seeing more savoury and non-savoury purple products before long.
What has your April involved?!

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A post-tennis smoothie

I think I've mentioned before that I am not very good at ball sports. Inevitably, they require hand-eye coordination and sporting prowess that I just don't have. In the words of my first grade teacher, "[Kari] is to be commended for real effort in work requiring fine motor skills".

Real effort, but, I think it is safe to say, not natural ability.

Sometimes, though, I do venture to play actual, ball-related sport. Tennis is undoubtedly my favourite option, in no small part due to a tennis racquet being much larger than a tennis ball, and a tennis court providing a much easier target than a goal hoop or net.

Last weekend, we played tennis with Mr Bite's brother. This ended up working quite well, as the advantage of playing 2 vs. 1 went some way to countering my lack of consistency. I'm always worried about ruining games by hitting the ball somewhere completely irrelevant, like directly sideways, or about 50m out of the tennis court, and having someone else to balance out my hitting was a good option.

It was a fun 2 hours, but it was also a hot 2 hours. Perth's weather has cooled down relative to a few weeks ago, but it has been far more humid than we are used to. Queenslander's would probably play 2 hours of tennis in a humid 30'C and be cool and composed at the end of it, but we, well, we were not.

After a shower, therefore, I felt that a smoothie was called for.

I make smoothies far less often than I would like, in part because if faced with the choice of a smoothie or something thicker and more ice cream-y, I tend to go for the latter. Also, I don't have quite the right appliance for smoothies. I use my food processor because it does a great job with frozen fruit, but when liquid is added to that fruit, there is inevitably some spillage out the top. My basic blender does well with liquids and soft fruit, but it's not up to anything frozen.

In spite of these obstacles, smoothies do sometimes come out of my kitchen, and last weekend was a case in point.

To say this post-tennis smoothie was perfect would be an understatement. It ended up being just what I wanted and a combination of cold, thick, creamy (but not milky!) and banana-pineapple-y that I have never quite managed  in a smoothie before.

One of the nicest things about this is that it is incredibly, extremely simple. You probably already make smoothies like this and I'm just late to the party. There are 4 ingredients and they are ingredients that are always in my kitchen.

Having since made it for a second time, I can also attest that this is equally good when you haven't just played tennis.

Super simple, super thick banana pineapple smoothie

Serves 1

In a mixer, blender or food processor, process:

1 large peeled and frozen banana

2 rings of tinned pineapple, from a can of pineapple rings in juice *

1/2 cup protein enriched rice milk (or milk of choice)

1 tsp chia seeds

* I didn't have any fresh pineapple. But 1/4 cup of that would obviously work well too - and if it was frozen fresh pineapple, this would be even thicker.

Delicious. And cold. And thick.

Definitely worth the tennis!

How are you with sports? And are you a smoothie person? Any favourite combinations?

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Books, and a chocolate-banana-spinach-cherry-smoothie-pudding

I realised that it's been a little while since I've mentioned books in a post. So long, in fact, that I can't quite recall when it last was. Thus, I thought I'd give a brief mention to those that I've read in the past 2 months;

• The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam, by Lauren Liebenberg (Is this not one of the best book titles you can imagine? Sadly the book didn't quite match the name, but it was still a worthwhile read.)
• Cage of Stars, by Jacquelyn Mitchard
• My Childhood, by Maxim Gorky
• The Coroner, by M. R. Hall
• Disappeared, by M. R. Hall

Details can be found here for those interested, but I wanted to pause on The Coroner for a moment. I probably wouldn't have picked this book up if left to my own devices (Mr Bite's Mum lent it to me), given that I don't usually gravitate towards crime-detective fiction, but it was wonderful. This was partially due to the writing and story (more detective than crime) and partially due to the considerable psychology component in the tale. Consider the following:

"Shutting the door at the end of the day was something she'd worked on with Dr Travis. He'd told her that, in common with so many women, she was a perfectionist who couldn't rest until everything around her was in order. When work was a daily round of chaos, loose ends and uncertainties, it was only a matter of time before a personality like hers would collapse under the pressure." (p. 49, The Coroner).


I love this quote. In part because the attention to anxiety and panic and personality served to enhance the story, in a way I hadn't been expecting, and in part because this quote could describe me. And, I'm sure, many other women (and no doubt men).

You see, I have a terrible tendency to feel overwhelmingly overwhelmed when my To Do list gets too long or seems unmanageable. The 'terrible' part of this is that it very rarely is too long - I get through it. I can't count the number of anxious Sunday nights I've had, waking up frequently to worry about what I have to do on the Monday, and then invariably I get through all the urgent tasks by lunchtime. 3pm at the latest. To my amusement, though, it's never occurred to me to metaphorically "shut the door" on this To Do list, rather than think about how I'm going to tackle it and make sure things are tidied up and ticked off.

So consider this my philosophical contribution to your week: shut the door on work when at home (if you don't already do so). Easier said than done but I shall certainly be giving it a go tonight.

Putting serious things aside, I also have a smoothie recipe today. Recipe is slightly grandiose as it is hardly a novel combination of ingredients, but I found the thickness to be almost pudding like. I very much like that it could go in both straw-drinking and spoon-eating categories.

Chocolate Banana Spinach Cherry Smoothie Pudding

Serves 1 (this is more of a pudding-sized serve - see notes below to make it a larger smoothie)

1 medium frozen banana

1 generous handful baby spinach leaves

~100ml non-dairy chocolate milk, or plain milk + 1tsp cocoa

(I used chocolate hazelnut milk and didn't actually measure - approximately 100ml)

8 frozen cherries + 4 to garnish

Blend all ingredients in a blender or food processor

Add extra milk if you would like it more smoothie-like, or protein powder or chia seeds if you would like it thicker

Serve with 4 extra frozen cherries on top

Cold chocolatey, banana-y, cherried deliciousness. The hidden spinach is a bonus!

How do you like your smoothies - spoon or straw?

And what are you like at "shutting the door" on work?

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Blueberry Chai Smoothie

The other week, I tried a chai latte for the first time. I know, I'm only 5 years or so behind everyone else.

The thing is, I don't like coffee in latte form (too milky). And I've confirmed this year that I just don't like soy milk in tea or coffee (tastes wrong!). Thus, since trying to reduce dairy, I've tended to order herbal teas when out at cafes. I still have the odd cappuccino, but not often.

The cafe I was at last weekend didn't have chai tea, or many tea options at all. I didn't feel like coffee. My friend ordered a chai latte and I decided to try it, placing a soy order.

I don't know why I didn't think I would like this, given chai tea is one of my favourite drinks. As it turns out, I loved it. The soy milk worked fine, and I've since had a second chai latte that was even better than the first.


The result of this discovery is that chai has been on my mind. I've been drinking even more chai tea. And with almond milk to use up and a 23'C forecast, a chai smoothie seemed like a good way to start a weekend morning.

Blueberry Chai Smoothie

Makes 1 medium serve

Blend:

• ~1/3 cup chai tea, cooled
• ~1/2 cup - 3/4 cup almond milk, or milk of choice
• ~1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• Optional: ~1 tbsp oats (I didn't include oats, but would next time for added thickness and texture)

The chai flavour didn't stand out, but lent a certain depth to the overall taste. Subtle spice tones mixed with blueberries was just what I was looking for.

The smoothie wasn't super thick, and I would probably add the tablespoon of oats next time. However, on this particular occasion, I was in the mood for a drink smoothie rather than a spoon smoothie.

I served it with a side of chai tea, of course.

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