Theme: Blue
Recipe: Very Blueberry Smoothie
Cookbook: Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen
You know what I am?
(Apart from slightly sick with a cold, slightly distracted by a longing for things I can’t quite describe, and slightly full from a surplus of pumpkin chips…)
I am slightly behind on The Cookbook Challenge. Or, to be entirely honest, very behind. As in “I’m really not even sure how many themes I have to catch up on” behind. However, this past long weekend (during which I worked one full day and was sick for the other two), I managed to create two dishes for recent Cookbook Themes. Guess what? This is for one of them!
I made Ani Phyo’s Very Blueberry Smoothie, a raw vegan drink that surprised me with its blend of delicacy, subtle sweetness, creaminess and fruitiness. I was a bit wary, when pouring water over the four ingredients in my blender, that the flavour was going to be watery and insipid. I should have known better than to doubt Ani. (After all, her raw vegan nacho cheeze was fantabulous.)
This smoothie was utterly lovely. And then it became even better, simply through the addition of a goodly amount of chia seeds. The magical chia seeds turned my smoothie into a Very Blueberry Pudding, which I happily took to work the next day.
I’m also entering this post into Kim and Ricki’s SOS June Blueberry Challenge…
… and Amy’s Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays event.
Believe you me, when your head is pounding, your throat is aching, and it’s just sunk in that you did, in fact, really and truly buy a midriff-baring top from Supre for your wild friend Jenni’s upcoming Jazzercize party…
A Very Blueberry Smoothie Pudding is exactly what you need.
Very Blueberry Smoothie
From Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen
- 3 cups water
- 2 cups blueberries (I used frozen)
- 1/2 cup cashews
- 1/2 cup pitted dates (medjool or another variety of fresh soft date, preferably)
- 1 vanilla bean (I used 1 tsp vanilla extract)
- Blend 2 cups of water with the blueberries, cashews, dates, and vanilla until smooth (in your Vita-Mix, if you’ve got one! Wheee!). Add the remaining water and blend again until smooth. Keeps for three days in the fridge.
- Hannah’s tip: try adding chia seeds for extra pudding fun times galore!
{ 62 comments… read them below or add one }
Mmm…it’s such a lovely color! I always make the exact same smoothie, I need to branch out.
I’m guessing that you mean you have your own recipe that you always make, not that you always make this exact smoothie? ‘Cause I totally want the smoothie recipe of yours that is worthy of always being made
I would eat that just for the color. So uplifting!
Absolutely – the prettiness almost made me forget my sickness
Oh I dread to think what my food processor would do to these ingredients but I love the sound of it – and onya for keeping on with the challenge – I thought maybe you were going to knock over the blue them and cup theme together! though you really aren’t that far behind – and it is great doing blog events with an elastic deadline! Hope you feel better soon
Hmm… a good food processor might work? After all, there’s no ice, and you could use fresh blueberries! It would probably just be a bit grainier, but if you ate it as pudding, that wouldn’t matter
I was seriously tempted to just skip the blue and cup, but unfortunately I’m a perfectionist who feels guilty and stressed about commitments that really shouldn’t be worried about :S Thanks for the support – I’m in awe of how well you’re keeping up with the challenge!
Sorry to hear that you’re sick. I’m sure the blueberry goodness will help you recover quickly.
What a fabulous colour that smoothie is! I totally want to make it. Drinking purple is so much more attractive than drinking green. Happy to eat green, just not drink it.
I wish I could say it has, but we’re into day four of sickness now! Ah well, this is what being a grown-up entails, I suppose!
Teehee – I thought there’d be those among you appreciative of the lack of spinach in this smoothie
Super sad sorry sickness.
My fourth-grade math teacher was a very serious-looking Asian woman who frightened me half to death every day that I approached her classroom. She was the definition of strict (elementary school-style). However, she had a jazzercise mug that had pretty much a permanent place on her desk. I should have realized then that she may have had a wild and crazy midriff-baring side to her!
Thanks my friends
Hahaha, I love the idea of a terrifying teacher with a jazzercise dirty secret! I’ll try to channel her on Friday
YUM! That looks delish – so light and fresh which is perfect for this summer heat!
Or for this winter freezingness, down here in Australia…
Haha oh my gosh that’s right – I forgot the seasons are switched! I should definitely know that because my cousins live there! We were in Aspen this winter actually and there were a lot of Australians there on their summer break. So funny!
Teehee! I find it impossible to forget, because I’m so used to swooning over the summer weather shown on American blogs when it’s freezing here.
Haha – that’s okay we’ll be jealous come winter time for us!!
Delish, delish, delish! Glad to see you putting that Vitamix back to good use!
There may be weeks where we don’t speak, but my Vita-Mix and I always come back together with a passion the likes of which no Smurf Kitchen has seen before.
What a great idea to add dates!
i am making this for breakfast tomorrow! Love it!
It would be wonderful for breakfast
Let me know what you think if you do!
I love your blog Hannah, always makes me smile, you are so funny. BTW the smoothie looks delicious!
Aw, Leah, thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me, particularly this day, when I’m nursing a sore throat, headache, and upset stomach!
Well I hope you recover quickly my dear. I know from living in Canberra, how bitterly cold it can be this time of year!
Stay warm and well xo
Thanks Leah
Have been making steady use of the heart – we had a -7 night back when it was still Autumn! :S
Blueberry chia pudding is actually one of my very favorite desserts! Having it in smoothie form would be fantabulous.
Thanks so much for entering the SOS Challenge this month, with such a yummy recipe, too!
I’ll have to go search back through your blog for a Ricki-blueberry pudding recipe, then
I seem to recall an amazing strawberry chia fluff creation 
Ha, ha! The blueberry pudding is actually a recipe in my ebook, Desserts without Compromise. But there’s a “basic” chia pudding recipe (called “Chia Tapioca” on my blog that you can adapt any way you like.
I’d be upset about that, but it turns out I’ve got another rather magnificent e-Book up my sleeve right now
Eeek sorry you’re sick. Hope you’re feelin’ better already
This smoothie sounds delicious – do you think the cashews would still get proper blended in a regular blender?
Alas, no, a bit worse actually, but I’ll survive
Thank you for the kind thoughts!
Cashews are pretty soft nuts to start with, so I say go for it. If you’re really worried, then soak them first, but honestly I wouldn’t mind myself if there was some texture in teeh smoothie! Let me know what happens if you try
Being sick with a cold myself, this is one of the few blogged dishes that currently appeals. I hope you feel better soon!
You too, Kari! Unfortunately for me, even when I’m sick I still want to eat chocolate and endless spoonfuls of nut butter
yum!
This is almost like a “milk” shake…the cashews would give such a lovely creaminess, no wonder you needed the water.
It is, quite! The cashews and water do make for a delightful milky (mylky?!) creaminess
Unfortunately I also got sick during the long weekend, and it was during my Melbourne holiday!!
Lord of the Fries has lost its appeal to me because on their website they state they use cottonseed oil!! My goodness – that’s something to hide; not something to be proud of!
I was worried about being cold in Melbourne but that was not a problem – in fact I was burning up with a fever the whole time!!
I had dinner at a restaurant across the road from Lord of the Fries one night and I was thinking of you.
I hope you recover soon honey. xx
Oh Margaret, you poor thing! I feel badly for whinging about my own ongoing sickness – at least mine didn’t interfere with an actual holiday! Please drink lots and lots of honey lemon tea, get yourself much better, and then go back to Melbourne… taking me with you
P.S. Is the problem with cottonseed oil to do with GM? My guess is they’re advertising it as a more preferable option than animal fats, trans fats, or palm oil?
Thanks sweetheart. I thought I might get stuck in Melbourne with no accommodation while the volcanic cloud was hovering above. Feeling sick made me desperatly long to be home in bed! Luckily my flight was only delayed by an hour.
I’ll try to avoid giving you a one hour lecture about cottonseed oil! Cotton is one of the most heavily sprayed crops in the world, and the oil is a cheap waste product of the cotton industry, so it’s sold to the food industry. Waste not want not! Humans have only recently started eating cottonseed oil – there is no history of use, as opposed to hundreds of years with olive oil. So we are the experimental generation. It does cause liver disease when fed to rats. Rats aren’t humans but all the drugs we have are first tested on rats. Vegetable oil also causes macular degeneration.
Then there are the GM issues.
Animal fats are far healthier for heating. Lard, tallow, suet, ghee and coconut fat are the most heat stable fats. Vegetable oils should not be heated – products of lipid peroxidation are formed when they are heated. Basically the fats go off and create free radicals in the body. Lots of info in the book Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill.
That will do, I don’t want to hijack your blog and turn it into a nutrition lecture!
To be honest, I love nutrition lectures, so go for it! I didn’t know this about cottonseed oil, but luckily I’m fairly sure I don’t eat it often. In cooking I use olive or coconut oil, and with packaged foods I tend to enjoy reading ingredient labels of things, and cottonseed oil doesn’t ring a bell in my mind. I’ll keep an eye out though
So relieved you weren’t affected by the ash cloud! I know of a few people who’ve been stuck for days!
In Australia cottonseed oil in packaged foods can be labelled “vegetable oil”, but you don’t eat much processed food in general, so you’ll be fine.
Since I’m a naturopath I’ll keep an eye on your diet. :p
*looks guiltily at bag of pretzels beside me*
OK this is an odd thing to say but I hope you might not mind me saying odd things but don’t you think we should rename the blueberry to the purple berry? Or even better the purple monster aka Grimace berry? Hmm although McD references aren’t good. OK I’ll shut up now
YES YES YES. I’ve been advocating for that for years now. THEY AREN’T BLUE. Also, I used to hate blueberries as a kid (nasty and mushy and grainy, most of ‘em), so Grimace berry works on multiple levels for me.
P.S. That said, please let’s allow these to be “blue” berries just for now, otherwise I’m completely buggered with this blue theme
love the idea of using cashews in your smoothie!! i have yet to do my blueberry challenge. will have to think of something later this month! hope you are having a wonderful week
Oh goodie-gum-drops, I’m not the last one!
Thank you for making me feel better about my delay in posting *giggle*
Talk about multitasking.. you go girl! AND GO TO BED!!
*laughs* Totally will in the next hour. Once the four black sesame mochis and peanut butter toast I just ate have settled. :S You’d think, when I was sick, I’d manage to eat healthier…
Wowee, that does sound like a lot of water. But I trust your trust of Ani
hope it did the trick and made you jazzercise-party-ready – get well soon!
Thanks Laura! I feel like you’ll appreciate the jazzercise outfits… though don’t know if I’ll have the courage to post them. Fingers crossed I’m well enough to go!
Smoothies are the best when you’re sick! I often use water in my smoothies because I never seem to be able to keep soy milk around, and I’ve had some pretty good results with water!
I totally love the *idea* of a cookbook challenge, but taking one *for real* would totally stress me, I’m afraid. Life always likes to get in the wa.
The smoothie looks wonderful. I’ve never had one with cashews. WHY?!?!?!
To be honest, I’m stupidly letting this challenge stress me out! I know I should just let go and be okay with not doing every theme, but my stupid perfectionist side keeps coming out…. :S Ah well, it’s good for me to use my cookbooks
That is a lot of water, but with those ingredients I can see how it all works! Good stuff with the addition of chia seeds too!
Chia seeds make everything more magnificent
Mmm…that smoothie looks so pretty. I bet it tastes deeelicious, too!
Have a great day!
Thanks! It certainly was delicious
Love this beautiful lilac colour. I’m sure it tastes as good as it looks
Even better, maybe!
Oh I could go one of these right now. I burnt my tongue and I just know the pretty colour and yummy taste of the berries would totally heal me.
And, I love that the water is hidden. Dont you find it hard to stomach the stuff when its so cold and miserable. Go you for tackling the challenge. Although stressing about it bestie wont help your creativity flow. As a compition chef, my words of advice are…. Write a list, add some silly statements, like…. Smile, Have Fun, Take a big breath. You cant go wrong when youve got your list. 
I must admit, my whole “FORWARD HO SMOOTHIES FOREVER” burst of enthusiasm a few weeks back failed when we had those few incredibly cold weeks
I really like your idea of a list. I think I need one right now, starting with “breathe. breathe. things will work out”.
Wow, what an awesome smoothie! I adore dates but never thought of putting them in a smoothie. How thick and sweet and delicious is must be! plus cashews!! wooooooo amazing. Hope you feel better soon, lovely.
Heidi xo
Thanks Heidi – six days in, I’m finally feeling a bit better. Must be down to the magical date smoothie