smooooothies

April 13, 2009 7:46 AM

Give me your recipes for your favorite savory and non-traditional smoothies.

When I was in Thailand I tried many smoothies - cucumber-mint, tomato, apple-ginger, and they were all so delicious and refreshing. I've been trying to recreate some of those at home, but they come out really gross, I can barely get myself to swallow some of the stuff I made - I don't know what I am doing wrong.

So please give me your tried-and-true recipes for any savory or non-traditional flavors, nothing is too weird for me, it just needs to taste good and I'm sick of regular fruit smoothies. Fruit in combination with other things is OK though!

Thanks!

posted by KateHasQuestions to food & drink (8 comments total)

I can't help with "non-traditional flavors," but I will say that regardless of ingredients, freezing everything beforehand results in a better smoothie. I also always use vanilla yogurt as a base, and take all pre-frozen ingredients out of the freezer about an hour before use as not to overtax my food processor. Comes out like ice cream!!
posted by eggman at 8:07 AM on April 13

I don't have any recipes opff the top of my head, but I'd try a search for "summer soups" or chilled soups.
posted by JoanArkham at 8:57 AM on April 13

I really really like avocado with some other greens like mint or lemon thyme. It's not really exotic or anything, but it's wonderful. And I find that a little silken tofu (frozen into blocks) makes things really creamy.
posted by answergrape at 9:04 AM on April 13

This isn't as exotic as your examples, but I love it:

Soy Milk + ice + 2-3 Tablespoons peanut butter + 1 tablespoon honey + 1 banana.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 9:24 AM on April 13

Note that for some of the blender ones you'll need a kickass blender. I recommend Blend-Tec or Vitamix.

Here are a few for a blender:

Pineapple-Mint

- half a medium pineapple
- 200ml plain yogurt
- 6-8 large mint leaves
- water to the thickness you desire

Blend.

Chocolate-Cherry

2 cups frozen cherries
2 cups frozen bananas (2 fresh works fine too)
1/4 cup cacao nibs
1 cup coconut water
2 tbs agave nectar
1 pinch sea salt
1 tsp vanilla

Blend.


Mint-Cacao

1/4 cup young thai coconut meat
1/4 cup agave
1/2 vanilla bean
1/4 cup cacao nibs or cacao powder
2 cups almond milk (see above)
10 mint leaves

Blend.

Raspberry-Agave Lemonade

3 cups water
1 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup agave nectar
8-10 frozen raspberries

Mix everything except berries. Chill. Add berries as garnish before serving.

Avacado-Pineapple

1 ripe avocado
3 cups diced pineapple
2 cups coconut water
3 tbs agave nectar
3 tbs lime juice
1 tbs coconut butter (optional)
2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of sea salt

blend.

Fig-Grape

4 cups green or red grapes
1 cup black mission figs, sliced
1 cup filtered water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp cinnamon
pinch of sea salt
2 cups ice cubes

blend grapes until smooth. Add remaining ingredients except ice. blend until smooth. add ice, blend until just smooth.

Pumpkin Milk

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup pitted dates
1/2 vanilla bean
pinch sea salt
5 cups of water

Blend until smooth.

Mexican hot chocolate

1/4 cup almonds
1/2 cup pitted dates
1 vanilla bean
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tbs carob powder
5 cups water

Blend.

Cherry Malt

2 cups pitted cherries
3/4 cup almonds
1/2 cup pitted dates
2 tbs carob powder
2 tbs coconut oil
2 cups water

blend.

Pear Frosty

2 pears, seeded and quartered
1/2 cup pitted dates
1/2 vanilla bean
2 cups water
1 cup ice

blend all but ice until smooth. add ice, blend until just smooth.

Black Sesame and Walnut

2 tbs black sesame tahini
1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup pitted dates
1 vanilla bean
3 cups water
1 cup ice

blend all but ice until smooth. add ice, blend until just smooth.

Here are a few for juicer:

Spinach-Tomato-Carrot

4 tomatoes
4 small to medium carrots
2 handfuls of small, tender spinach leaves

Juice.

Carrot-Apple-Ginger-Lime

1 lime
5 or 6 medium carrots
thumb sized knob of ginger
2 apples

Juice.

Tomato Crush (a good blender could do this one as well)

2 red peppers
4 tomatoes
small piece of red chilli
worcestershire sauce
salt
black pepper
tabasco

Juice everything but the seasoning. Season to taste.

These and recipes like these can be found in raw food cookbooks like Ani's Raw Food Kitchen, Raw Food Real World, and Everyday Raw. Some are also from Nigel Slater's book, Thirst.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 10:05 AM on April 13 [16 favorites has favorites]

The secret to any good smoothie is vanilla jell-o pudding powder. You can use it in any basic smoothie to thicken and make sweeter. I prefer the sugar-free kind.
posted by Viomeda at 10:34 AM on April 13

I made an excellent mango lassii this morning.

-- 1-2 cups mango flesh (you can also use frozen mango, which you can get at the store, but mangoes are pretty cheap)
-- 1/2 -- 1 cup unflavored yogurt
-- 1-2 tablespoons sugar
-- handful ice cubes

Blend, adding more yogurt or sugar to taste.
posted by rossination at 1:43 PM on April 13

I've heard good things about avocado smoothies (general recipe is avocado, milk, and sugar), but haven't tried them myself.

A couple commenters suggest vanilla yogurt and vanilla pudding power - I'd definitely stay away from vanilla anything if I were making a savory smoothie. I would suggest either plain yogurt as a base for a creamy smoothie, or experiment with a more icy/slushie type drink without any dairy.

How about looking up gazpacho recipes, pureeing, and drinking as a smoothie? That would definitely be savory and taste good.

Googling savory smoothie also brings up some recipes that sound good to me - this one sounds kind of gazpacho-esque.

And if anything turns out just a little too bitter or "green" tasting, adding an apple and/or lemon juice might help.
posted by insectosaurus at 6:33 PM on April 13