Smoothies

Smoothies are fast, easy and very tasty. They are a great source of easy to swallow nutrients. What you put in is up to you.

Smoothie Essentials

The key word is versatile: you can blend your favorite fruit with any of the following.

Milk, ice cream or yoghurt for a calcium rich drink - roughly 250ml of milk, per person.

Soya or rice milk: a dairy-free alternative.

Coconut Water or normal water also works and is better for melon or pineapple cmoothies that can curdle dairy products.

Add sugar (caster or icing), honey, jam, maple syrup, dates or fruit sauces all act as great sweeteners. Some tasty fruit sauces are available from Lakeland Ltd

Freshly squeezed orange juice: loads of vitamin C and a good way to thin out a smoothie.

Ginger: fresh and clean tasting, ginger is also helpful in boosting digestion, easing nausea or fighting off a cold.

Lime: if you want to add a fresh, sharp-tasting edge to any fruit concoction.

Yoghurt or bananas: Either of these ingredients will give your smoothie a thick and creamy consistency.

Mango: the flesh of a ripe mango is a useful way to sweeten your smoothie without adding sugar. It gives you an antioxidant boost too. Choose non-fibrous varieties such as Kent or Keitt.

Raspberries: help to balance sweet fruits such as mango, and add a glorious colour. Keep them in the freezer and put straight into the blender.

Smooth peanut butter: excellent if you want a substantial smoothie with lots of protein, or if you're simply feeling indulgent.

Add crushed biscuits like Digestives to give texture and extra fibre.

Sieve smoothies to remove any pips.


Here are some recipes to get you started.

Antony Worrall Thompson's Mango Smoothie (4 glasses)

  • 2 ripe mangoes, peeled, stoned and rough diced
  • 375g (13oz) strawberries, hulled
  • 1 banana, peeled and sliced
  • 1 tbsp liquid honey
  • 600ml (1 pint) milk
  • 12 Ice Cubes

  1. Place the mango and strawberries in a blender and whizz until smooth.
  2. Add the banana, honey, milk and ice cubes.
  3. Whizz everything until smooth and serve immediately.
  4. You can add a couple of scoops of vanilla ice-cream when blending.
Copyright Antony Worrall Thompson


Antony Worrall Thompson's Pineapple-Nut Smoothie (2-4 glasses)
  • 2 tbsp toasted almonds
  • 115g (4oz) crushed ice
  • 1 banana, peeled and rough diced
  • 1/4 ripe pineapple, peeled and cored, cut in chunks
  1. Blend the almonds in a food processor to a smooth paste.
  2. Add remaining ingredients and puree until smooth.
  3. Serve as a drink or thin soup or poured over fresh strawberries.


Antony Worrall Thompson's Passion Fruit Smoothie (2 glasses)
  • 2 passion fruits, pulp and seeds only
  • 1 tbsp liquid honey
  • 1 tbsp lime juice
  • 1 kiwi, peeled and cut in chunks
  • 1 tbsp wheat germ
  • 150ml (1/4 pint) orange juice
  • 150ml (1/4 pint) milk
  • 150ml (1/4 pint) Greek Yogurt
  • 6 tbsp crushed ice

  1. Place all ingredients in a liquidiser and blend for 1 minute until smooth.
  2. Pour into 2 glasses and serve.
  3. If too thick add extra milk or orange juice.


Antony Worrall Thompson's Alcoholic Breakfast Smoothie (2 glasses)

A perfect drink to start the weekend brunch, 8 a.m. and onwards. Alternatively leave the rum out.

  • 250ml (9 fl oz) unsweetened coconut milk
  • 250ml (9 fl oz) milk
  • 2 bananas, peeled and cut in chunks
  • 1 mango, stoned, peeled and cut in chunks
  • 2 shots rum
  • 2 tbsp liquid honey
  • 2 tbsp lime juice
  • 6 tbsp crushed ice
  1. Place all ingredients in a liquidiser and blend for 1 minute until smooth.
  2. Pour into 2 glasses and serve.


Antony Worrall Thompson's Tango Smoothie (4 glasses)
  • 1 mango, stoned, peeled and cut in chunks
  • 1 banana, peeled and cut in chunks
  • 1 tbsp raspberries
  • 225g (8 oz) tub natural yogurt
  • 1 dessert spoon liquid honey
  • 300ml (1/2 pint) milk
  • 10 ice cubes
  • 1 scoop vanilla ice cream
  • 2 passion fruits

  1. Place the mango into a blender. Add banana, berries, yogurt, honey, milk, ice cubes and ice cream, whizz until smooth. Remove the lid
  2. Scoop out the pulp from the passion fruit and fold into the smoothie. Stir until well combined.
  3. Pour into chilled glasses and serve.



Antony Worrall Thompson's Peach Melba Shake (1-2 glasses)
  • 2 poached peaches, canned or home-cooked
  • 115g (4 oz) raspberries
  • 3 scoops vanilla ice cream
  • 100ml (3 1/2 fl oz) milk, or to taste

    To Serve 1 tbsp crushed almonds 1 tbsp raspberries
  • whipped cream
  1. Place the fruit, ice cream and milk into a blender or food processor, whizz until foaming.
  2. Add extra ice cream or milk to taste.
  3. Serve sprinkled with crushed almonds, raspberries or whipped cream.


Lesley Waters' Mexican Salsa Smoothie

This tasty, rich Mexican style smoothie. The success of this smoothie depends on the ripeness of the avocado pear. Gently press the avocado at the stem end to check it gives only slightly under your thumb.

Serves 2

    Ingredients
  • 1 ripe avocado, peeled and diced
  • 2 ripe tomatoes, diced
  • 2 tablespoons coriander ( optional )
  • juice 1/2 lime
  • 60ml (2 floz) tomato juice
  • tabasco sauce to taste ( optional )
  • salt & freshly ground black pepper
  • olive oil to garnish

    Instructions
  1. In a bowl, combine a small amount of the prepared avocado, tomato and coriander and reserve for the garnish. In a liquidiser or blender, whizz together the remaining avocado, tomato, coriander, tomato juice, lime juice and tabasco sauce until smooth. Season.
  2. Transfer the avocado smoothie to two serving bowls and top with the reserved garnish. Drizzle over a little olive oil, grind over some black pepper and serve at once.

Lesley Water's Blueberry Pudding Drink

A delicious blueberry pudding!

Serves 2
Contains Dairy

    Instructions
  1. Place the bananas, blueberries and orange juice in a liquidiser and blend until smooth.
  2. Transfer the blueberry smoothie to two dessert style serving bowls and sprinkle with the reserved blueberries. Float on a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and serve at once.

Strawberry and Mango Smoothie
  • Place 1 large ripe mango and 250g strawberries in a blender and whizz until smooth.
  • Add 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt and 250ml cold milk and whizz again.
  • Serve immediately.


Fruits of the Forest

  • Place 60g frozen fruits of the forest in a blender with 150ml of fruit juice, 1 heaped tablespoon of natural yoghurt and 1 tablespoon of runny honey (or to taste).
  • Whizz and drink!


Blackberry and Yoghurt Smoothie
  • Place 350g blackberries in a food processor with 300ml natural yoghurt and 150ml cold water.
  • Whizz until smooth, then add sugar or honey to taste.
  • You can replace the blackberries with whole strawberries.


Pear and Raspberry with Maple and Vanilla Smoothie
  • Peel a very ripe pear and cut into chunks.
  • Drop into a blender with half a punnet of raspberries, 15g vanilla yoghurt and maple syrup to taste. Blend.
  • You can replace the yoghurt with vanilla ice-cream if you fancy a milkshake.


Dried Apricot Smoothie
  • Soak 6-8 dried apricots in a glass of fresh orange juice overnight (they should come no more than a third of the way up your glass, or the smoothie will be too thick).
  • Then blitz in a blender.
  • Add a squirt of fresh lemon juice if it’s too sweet.

    Coconut Milk, Mango and Lime Smoothie -
    A dairy-free smoothie.
  • Blitz the flesh from one ripe medium sized, non-fibrous mango with 200ml coconut milk and the juice of a lime.
  • Thin with a little water if necessary.


    Virgin Mary - A dairy-free smoothie.
  • Skin 4 or 5 ripe tomatoes then squish them through a sieve with the back of a spoon.
  • Tip the juice into a blender and blitz with a good handful of fresh coriander, a couple of pinches of crushed black pepper and the juice of half a lemon, (or to taste).
  • Serve in a chilled glass with a big wedge of lemon and coriander leaves to garnish.

OJ, Banana and Lemon Smoothie -
  • A dairy-free smoothie.
  • Blitz a small chopped banana with 150ml of orange juice, honey and freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste.

Parsley, Pineapple, Ginger and Lime Smoothie -
A dairy-free smoothie.
  • Blend 150g chopped pineapple flesh (about a quarter of a large fruit), 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh ginger, a small handful of chopped fresh parsley and 250ml of water.
  • Push through a sieve before drinking, if you like a very smooth smoothie.
  • Serve with Ice.


Pineapple, Passion Fruit and Grapefruit Smoothie
  • Put 150g-chopped fresh pineapple (about a quarter of a large fruit) into a blender, whiz for a minute.
  • Add the freshly squeezed juice of a pink grapefruit and whiz again.
  • Pour into a glass, then stir in the seeds and pulp scooped from a passion fruit.


Strawberry with Lime and Mint Smoothie
  • Put 2-3 cubes of ice in a glass.
  • Blend half a punnet of strawberries with the juice of 1 lime, 6 fresh mint leaves, 1 tablespoon of honey and 1 tablespoon of sugar (or to taste).
  • Blend, garnish with a sprig of mint and serve immediately over the ice.


Melon and Ginger Smoothie
  • Slice the flesh from a half ripe Gallia melon into a blender.
  • Grate a 1cm-piece fresh root ginger, then put the pulp in a sieve (a tea strainer is ideal) and press through with the spoon to extract as much juice as possible. Blitz.
  • Unless the melon is already cold, serve over ice.


Strawberry, Raspberry and Blueberry Smoothie
  • Take 150g each of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries .
  • Blend with 500ml freshly squeezed Orange Juice


Peach, Mango and Passion Fruit Smoothie
  • Take 4 ripe peaches, skinned and stoned, flesh of 1 ripe mango, the strained pulp of 4 passion fruit
  • Blend with 500ml freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice


Melon, Papaya and Banana Smoothie
  • Take 1/2 cantaloupe melon, de seeded and peeled, 1/2 papaya,de seeded and peeled, 1/2 peeled banana.
  • Blend with 250ml apple juice.

Orange, Papaya and Pineapple Smoothie (2 glasses)


'Berry Blast' Protein Shake (1 glass)
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