What makes a great smoothie?

Creating the perfect healthy smoothie is a great way to start your day. It can give you the energy you need to ensure school lunch boxes and work bags are packed and everyone is out of the door on time. Here are some key components to keep in mind when making a balanced smoothie that will sustain you until lunchtime:

Key ingredients

1.      Vegetables: Including leafy greens, such as spinach or kale, in your smoothie can provide vitamins and minerals while also helping to add volume and thickness to the smoothie.

2.      Fruits: Berries, such as strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, are a great choice for smoothies because they are high in antioxidants and add a delicious sweetness to the drink. This is one situation where we think frozen works even better than fresh. Other fruits like banana, mango, and papaya also work well in a smoothie. Avoid lemon juice and other acidic fruits if you are adding yoghurt (see below) or your smoothie will curdle.

3.      Protein: To make your smoothie a more balanced meal, you can add a source of protein, such as lactose free Greek yogurt, nut butter, oats or protein powder. Using Superflora will add gut-friendly fibre and probiotics along with the protein.

4.      Healthy Fats: Adding healthy fats like avocado, chia seeds, nuts or flaxseed oil will help keep you feeling full and satisfied for longer.

5.      Liquid Base: Using a liquid base like lactose-free milk, almond milk, coconut milk, or water will help blend all the ingredients together and create a smooth consistency.

6.      Sweeteners: If you want to add a natural sweetener to your smoothie, you can use maple syrup, or a small serving of dates (8g) or desiccated coconut.

Use a combination of ingredients from each of these categories to create a well-rounded and nutritious drink. You can experiment and find the combination that works best for you.

Ice is optional, and you certainly don’t need it if you’ve included frozen fuit. If you do decide to add ice to your smoothie, we recommend blitzing it first on your blender’s ice setting, before adding everything else.

Here is a one of our favourite recipes for a delicious, healthy smoothie:

Ingredients:

• 25g spinach

• 40g mango

• 30g French Bean Vanilla Superflora

• 1 tbsp coconut

• 20g macadamia nuts

• 250 ml macadamia milk

Method:

1. Pour the macadamia milk into the blender

2. Add the Superflora, spinach, mango, coconut, and macadamias to the blender.

3. Blend until smooth.

4. Enjoy your delicious and healthy smoothie!

Note: You can play around with the recipe and add more or less of the ingredients to your liking.

There are more of our favourite smoothie recipes in our Summer Smoothie ebook. If you haven’t already, you can check it out here.

A healthy smoothie is a great way to incorporate a variety of nutrient-dense foods into your diet, so have fun experimenting with different ingredients and flavours.