Desperation drove me into a health food shop the other day. It was an unusual day regardless of the health shop. It was a day dressed up to look like #newyearnewme, the only thing missing was a towel slung around my shoulders and a bottle of green juice or one of my newly acquired breakfast smoothies.
It was 9:30 in the morning. I had already been to a yoga class. I was wearing my new gym attire – leggings and a ‘breathable’ workout sports bra thing. And I was in the health shop looking for a nice healthy snack for this new, January version of me. If Ally from say 2018 could read this description of myself, she would think I was describing someone else – someone with different priorities to her anyway and hers were mainly baked goods. (Although, I still don’t know what a workout top is called – ‘bra thing’ will have to do.)
To go back to that desperation – I was absolutely ravenous. Early morning yoga classes aren’t particularly considerate of meal times, and does anyone really want to shiver as they choke down muesli at 7:30?
However, France isn’t famous for its health shops, is it? No one visits France to sample their kale and quinoa salads. My change in diet, albeit temporary, has been tricky to navigate in the land of butter and baguette. A morning snack should have been easy what with all the croissants and pain au chocolat ahem chocolatines for sale. And yet, here I am making life difficult for myself and that health food shop was disappointing and expensive, as they all are. At least it didn’t smell of cabbage soup. A plus.
New diets and meal plans are always topsy-turvy to begin with, they take adjustment and perseverance. Mine – an attempt at an anti-inflammatory diet – didn’t start simply because I’ve been eating too much bread and cheese and baking at least twice a week for the last six years, although they are all good reasons. I am also trying to reduce the rosacea that has appeared on my cheeks over the last few months – from my research, a diet overhaul is a great solution yet for a foodie, a gourmand, someone who lives to eat, there are hurdles. Frequent ravenousness is one. Hence the health food shop. Desperate times.
Despite the challenges, there have been some absolute pleasures I’ve found myself preparing and consuming and none more so than my new daily breakfasts: smoothies.
My morning routine now has a little ray of sunshine. After my morning admin, I take myself to the kitchen where I line up the ingredients – whatever fruit we have in the fruit bowl and tasty additions from the cupboards – chuck them into a jug and whiz it all up until it transforms into a brightly coloured liquid which I will then drink at alarming speed because they are so delicious. I’ll even use a straw. My smoothie game is serious.
So, what have been the best smoothies?
There have been many breakfast smoothies – some absolute disasters (there was a tahini beetroot monstrosity recently from which I will never recover) and some which can only be described as a chef’s kiss. They have covered all the categories – creamy, fruity, light and juicy, spicy, and after each, most importantly, I feel satisfied (until lunchtime, that is).
The ingredients in most of my best smoothies include:
- Oats – for heft, to pad them out, and most importantly, to fill me up
- Flaxseed – I was amazed to learn what a nutritional little seed this is, and they now go in everything
- Fruit or vegetables – for flavour, sweetness and, of course, to tick them off my list of five a day. A great convenience is out of season frozen fruit which, when blended, provides a nice thick consistency
- Ground spices – Turmeric and ginger are, just like those miniature health capsules flaxseeds, packed with goodness, particularly anti-inflammatory benefits. Just a pinch in a smoothie doesn’t change the taste
Beyond that, I’ve been having a wild time and the kitchen has been covered in more residual smoothie than ever before. Without further ado, here are my favourites, the four best breakfast smoothies:
Peanut butter, banana & oat smoothie
Naturally, peanut butter and banana are together somewhere on this list. Like Torvill and Dean, Ant and Dec, Lennon and McCartney they are a double act that simply belongs together. Add oats which we already know is a lively partner to banana and some cinnamon for sparkle and we’re in business – you have the Beatles of breakfast smoothies.
For extra creaminess, I added a little coconut milk (not the coconut milk drink, I mean the real coconut milk that you’d use in a curry) and it’s morphed into a dessert – it’s certainly a breakfast I hop out of bed for at any rate.
Peanut butter, banana & oat breakfast smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 banana
- 10 g rolled oats
- 1 tsp flaxseed
- Pinch of ground turmeric
- Pinch of ground ginger
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- 15 g peanut butter
- 30 ml coconut milk
- 120 ml water
Instructions
- Break the banana into chunks and put in a jug or blender. Add all the remaining ingredients.
- Whiz in a blender or with a hand blender until smooth and thick.
- Pour into a glass and serve with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a straw.
Basil and passion fruit green goddess smoothie
If you are looking for fresh, this green goddess smoothie is the answer.
‘Green goddess’ is usually associated with salad dressing but I would like you to put aside your preconceptions – luckily this smoothie is nothing like salad dressing. However, it makes you feel like the goddess of health as you drink it, cradling a cornucopia of goodness in your arms.
Here we have a breakfast smoothie that resembles a juice. It is refreshing and light and an ideal thirst quencher after some exercise or simply to sip while fantasising about a holiday somewhere, those flavours of passion fruit, basil and cucumber transporting you from the middle of bleak winter to a warm and sunny paradise.
Basil & passionfruit green goddess smoothie
Ingredients
- 45 g cucumber
- 1 passion fruit
- 20 g raw broccoli
- 1 tsp flaxseed
- 6 basil leaves
- 15 g good-quality honey
- 120 ml cold water
Instructions
- Peel and slice the cucumber into half moons and place in a jug or blender. Halve the passion fruit and scoop all the fruity centre into the jug or blender. Chop the broccoli into small florets, small enough to blend easily.
- Add the remaining ingredients and whiz in a blender or with a hand blender until liquid and fairly smooth. Pour into a glass and serve.
Fiery beetroot, berry & ginger smoothie
Don’t let the seductive fuchsia of this smoothie fool you, she’s got a punch to her!
Beetroot brings the sweetness in this smoothie, counterbalancing the berries’ tang and that spicy warmth from the ginger. Plus there is turmeric and black pepper sprinkled in here too, increasing the heat and making this smoothie very healthy indeed. If you feel a bit bloated or if you’ve been over-doing it with all the creamy breakfast smoothies and shakes, this beetroot and berry smoothie is the answer – it’s refreshing and cleansing and we all need a bit of fire sometimes, especially on a Monday morning.
Fiery beetroot, berry & ginger smoothie
Ingredients
- 30 g cooked beetroot
- 15 g frozen mixed berries
- 1 tsp flaxseed
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- ⅛ tsp ground ginger
- Pinch of black pepper
- 10 g rolled oats
- 70 ml ginger tea cooled
- 15 ml water
Instructions
- Cut the cooked beetroot into small chunks so that it blends easily. Add all the smoothie ingredients to a jug or blender.
- Blend the smoothie in a blender or with a hand blender until smooth so all the oats are blended.
- Pour into a glass and serve with a straw.
Creamy tahini, coffee & walnut shake
Here we have an anomaly: there’s a shake on this list. A shake is essentially a blended drink that doesn’t depend on fruit pulp as a thickener or for flavour, and is usually creamier. That is certainly the case for this tahini, coffee and walnut number. Blend tahini and oats and you have a thick, velvety drink without any need for milk or cream.
Full of filling oats and that edifying shot of caffeine, this smoothie is a 2 in 1 when it comes to your morning intake – breakfast and coffee in one and it’s also creamy, soothing and delicious which helps.
I felt guilty without one of my five a day in here, so there’s a quarter of an avocado to make myself feel better. With all the spices, tahini and the coffee, the avocado simply adds to the thick creaminess and helps you to avoid guilt.
Creamy tahini, coffee & walnut shake
Ingredients
- 100 ml double espresso or 125ml black coffee (americano, filter etc)
- 10 g walnuts
- 1 cardamom pod bashed to release the seeds, you won't need them all
- 15 g rolled oats
- 10 ml tahini
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ ripe avocado
- 20 ml maple syrup
- 100 ml cold water
- A pinch of salt
Instructions
- Brew your coffee, pour into a glass and cool in the fridge while you make the smoothie, or ideally, make it the night before.
- Break the walnuts into small chunks and extract the cardamom seeds – add only half of the seeds, along with the walnuts, to a jug or blender. Add all the smoothie ingredients except the coffee.
- Whiz in a blender or with a hand blender until smooth and creamy. Add half the cold coffee, blend again then pour it all into a glass. Add the rest of the coffee and stir to swirl through the smoothie, then serve with a straw and sprinkled with salt.
So, as you can see, I’ve been having a lot of fun with the hand blender recently. Healthy breakfasts in France might not be easy to come by (unless you count a coffee and cigarette as a healthy breakfast) so my morning breakfast smoothies have been a god-send. I’m not French yet.
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