If you’re like me, you’re a fan of Jamba Juice. For those who haven’t the luxury of having a Jamba near them, it’s your standard juice/smoothie bar/stop with a variety of healthy, thick smoothies (try their peanut butter and granola ones… now that is THICK!). They’re yummy, and being a creature of habit, I get the same one every time (I’ve experimented with a few others over the years, but always come back to this one)- the Banana Berry. It’s a delicious smoothie, full of banana and blueberries and who knows what else (their recipes are, of course, secret). Oddly, I’m not a big banana fan, but something about the taste, texture, and viscosity of this smoothie makes me happy. So, naturally, I sought to recreate this happiness at home.

I’ve attempted to get this recipe down many a time and am happy to say I’ve finally got it. This may not be the perfect way- and you may find a variant you like better (not everyone happens to have raspberry sorbet on hand)- but this tastes really, really close to the Jamba version, so why not make it yourself at home and save?

Banana Berry Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 small to medium-sized, incredibly ripe banana (so ripe it won’t hold its shape. THAT ripe.)
• 1 tablespoon raspberry sorbet
• 2/3 cup natural vanilla ice cream
• 1 cup frozen strawberries, chopped coarsely
• 1/4 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/4 cup organic skim milk
• 1 tsp clover honey
• sprinkling of sea salt

Process:

To quote Selena Gomez in her Borden Milk commercials, it’s “seriously delicious”. If you’re looking for a healthier alternative, substitute the ice cream for low-fat vanilla yogurt and cut down a bit on the milk (unless if you like it to be thinner, in which case by all means keep the liquidyness!). Yum yum yum.

Mmh, mango lassi. It’s so thick, so tangy, with this light syrup-y-ness that just makes it a divine treat. Thicker than your average smoothie but not thick enough to be a custard, a lassi (or at least those I have had) can sometimes even be too thick for a straw! But this does not deter their delicious nature.

As I had a few over-ripe ataulfo (best. mangoes. ever) mangoes in the fridge waiting to be eaten and some hungry people waiting on my slow cooking skills for dinner, I opted to complete the Indian theme I had going for the night with a few glasses of lassi.

A friend has recently informed me that there’s a far easier way to do this: blended mango and yogurt, and nothing more. But you know how I am, I prefer to make things complicated :) so herein was my version:

Mango Lassi

Ingredients (Makes 3 small glasses):

• 5 quite ripe mangoes (I used ataulfo- but if you’re able to use alphonso, then go for it! they’re gorgeous)- pulp only, no skin
• heaping 1/2 cup of honey (local is best)
• 3/4 cup low-fat european-style yogurt
• 3/4 cup fat free organic milk
• 1/2 cup orange-mango juice

Process:

I realize it’s a bit heavy on the honey, and more complicated than your standard lassi, but I thought it would be interesting to try making one without looking at any recipes or standard procedures, going only on taste to recreate it based on my memories, and see where it took me. It includes milk, yogurt, and mango, so the necessary base ingredients are there, and I’ve found a number of areas that make it with honey, so I wasn’t far off with getting the syrup texture and taste attributed to something. Sure, it’s just one variation of this, but I think it’s a rather yummy recipe, and an excellent summer snack!

My sister was having lunch a bit ago and asked if I wanted to join her. I had had breakfast not exceedingly long ago and thus wasn’t hungry or in the mood for lunch… but I began sorting through the mail waiting patiently on the kitchen table, saw some smoothie pictures, and thought, well, why not?

I decided to experiment a bit further with varying ingredients, and went breakfast-style on this one. I was going for Jamba Juice’s thick and creamy smoothies that are all but a meal in a glass. Herein was what I decided on the following:

Berry-Granola Breakfast Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
• 1/4 cup raspberry yogurt (or blueberry, strawberry, mixed berry… your choice!)
• 1/8 cup crushed ice
• 2/3 tablespoon honey
• 3/4 tablespoon dulce de leche (optional)
• 1/5 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/3 cup mushy/ripe blueberries
• 1 tablespoon frozen blueberries
• 3 finely-chopped strawberries
• 1/4- 1/3 cup vanilla-almond granola (depending on your preference)
• 1 pinch salt

Process:

1. Assemble ingredients into blender- make sure to put liquids in first so that it is at the bottom near the blade
2. Blend on ‘salsa’ or similar setting (low) until nearly blended
3. Pulse a few more times after completing the ‘low’ setting (wait a second or two for it to let air out) to homogenize the mixture
4. Pour into a glass (you may have to tap the blender as you pour to coax out the thick mixture)
5. Top with freshly-cut fruit if desired

It’s incredibly thick, so if you aren’t in the mood for a muddy mixture, add 1/3 cup runny yogurt, water, or other liquid (almond milk, soy milk, or milk if you’d like to keep it thicker; pomegranate or berry juice to thin it out further)… but incredibly nutritious, and quite healthy, as the worst ingredients are low-fat and the dulce de leche is so worth it. To keep things even healthier and keep the texture less thick, take out the dulce.  All in all, this smoothie was quite a yummy one- and makes for a great breakfast on the go, as the whole process (eating included) takes under 5 minutes!

For a while now I’ve been wanting to make a mango smoothie, and today’s warm weather brought me to decide “yes, today is the day”. A friend gave me some lovely mango pieces in a fruit salad, and their gorgeous colour- they were quite clearly Ataulfo or Indian- were rather inspiring.

Mango Smoothie

Ingredients (makes 1 small glass):

• 1/4 cup Orange-mango juice
• 1/2 cup frozen organic mango chunks
• 1/3 cup fresh mango pieces (from my friend Andrew) :)
• 1/3 cup organic vanilla low-fat yogurt
• Five drops of honey

Process:

The texture was great- thinner than my last concoction, the glass of which the boyfriend had to tap on vigorously to coax out the smoothie- and quite delicious. I had been craving mango since the sun peaked its head through my window the day before, and this certainly did the trick rather nicely! I also learned my lesson and put all the liquids at the bottom, leaving the frozen mango chunks- which, out of paranoia, I dutifully chopped- at the very top, allowing the blender to conduct its work in peace.

Continuing on my smoothie kick, I decided on Saturday evening to make a cold, sinuous smoothie as we had the heater going and I felt the need to hydrate. Being a great fan of peach and mango- two of summer’s best fruit offerings- I decided to mix them together in the following recipe:

Mango Peach Strawberries ‘n Cream Smoothie

Ingredients (makes 1 small glass):

• 1/3 cup frozen mango chunks
• 1/2 cup frozen peach slices
• 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 scoop strawberries & cream ice cream
• drizzle of honey

Process:

It was, due to the ice cream and frozen fruit, a tad bit too thick- really bordering on frozen yogurt- but delicious nonetheless, and nicely speckled due to the fruit. My next iteration will be simply mango, with some orange juice… yum!

Finally, a current post! It was a bit difficult thinking back to the process and learnings of each prior post, so I’m glad to be up-to-date at last.

So my sister has recently come in to having a blender (very exciting stuff) and, naturally, the first thing I ran to do was make a smoothie. After a less-than-stellar first attempt, the second was rather delicious! Thanks to some tips from the boyfriend’s best friend, I added honey- which did wonders for the texture.

• Check to see if your blender can handle ice (particularly large chunks) prior to blending. Reading the directions may also be helpful (I say this from (lack of) experience)
• Liquid on bottom! And make sure there’s enough of it!

That said, this smoothie had the following marvellous ingredients!

Blueberry-Raspberry-Strawberry Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/3 cup fat free milk
• 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1/4 cup raspberry sorbet
• 1/4 cup strawberries and cream ice cream
• 3/4 tablespoon honey

Process:

• Assemble ingredients into blender- make sure to put liquids in first so that it is at the bottom near the blade
• Blend on ’salsa’ or similar setting (low) until nearly blended
• Pulse a few more times after completing the ‘low’ setting (wait a second or two for it to let air out) to homogenize the mixture
• Pour into a glass (you may have to tap the blender as you pour to coax out the thick mixture)
• Top with freshly-cut fruit if desired

Mmmh, it was delicious, and enjoyably thick (not a fan of thin smoothies). I hope to experiment with more fruit juices and different frozen friut (strawberries and peaches in particular) in the near-future!