This week, we’re looking at one of my FAVORITE SMOOTHIES IN THE WORLD. It’s a strawberry-banana-mango blend, simple and super nutritious. For those of you that don’t make smoothies often, or have never handled a mango before, I have some specific tips below.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
  • 2 Bananas
  • A good handful of strawberries (depending on size, around 10. More is usually better!)
  • 1/4 to 1/2 Mango

 

Yummy, fresh, and RIPE ingredients!

Yummy, fresh, and RIPE ingredients!

 

PREPARATIONS:

1. Peel those bananas and toss them in the blender! Hell yeah! There they go! Easy peasy! The riper the better, so use the ugly ones first. The ones shown above got slightly smashed by my backpack, so they were bruised but SUPER RIPE.

2. Wash all your berries. If you live in Cusco like I do at the moment, the frigid, high-altitude mountain water will render your fingers temporarily numb. Press on regardless. Toss those babies in the blender too!

3. Mango time. For those who have never cut a mango before, this is an exercise in guesswork and delicacy. Mangoes have a bulky, uneven seed in the middle that cannot be found until you cut into it. I tend to use between a fourth to half of a mango, depending on the size — the mangoes in Peru are quite large, so I went for a fourth here.

Crazy hidden seed alert!

Crazy hidden seed alert!

 

4. Carve out the delicious, juicy flesh of the mango, discarding the skin. Add it to the blender! There ya go…that looks NICE!

Almost there...

Almost there…

5. Add about a 1/4 cup of water. ALTERNATIVE: Toss in a few dollops of greek yogurt, or drizzle a few tablespoons of whatever probiotic, unflavored yogurt you have laying around! (We all have that, right? Probiotic yogurt just sitting, forlorn, in the fridge?)

6. BLEND. And enjoy!

The finished product: StrawMango Banana Explosion!

The finished product: StrawMango Banana Blast!

Makes a little over 2 servings.

 

If you’ll notice, this recipe relies on the natural sweetness of the fruits to do the job. I DO NOT ADD SUGAR, and typically make these smoothies only with water. The riper the better for this reason!

To pack an additional nutritional punch, I toss in RAW OATS and FLAX MEAL (my absolute favorite is Bob’s Red Mill Organic) once I pour my serving. I love the texture the oats and flax meal adds; not to mention the health benefits!

Feliz Smoothies!

 

Some related products: