A smoothie is great for Passover, Use Up Your Chometz, Shavuot or almost any other day of the year.
A smoothie is a fast, easy and (usually) healthy chilled thick fruit drink, similar in viscosity to a milkshake, but without the ice cream so it's a little healthier. A basic smoothie is made with one or more fruits, milk and/or yogurt. Parve (dairy-free) versions can be made with any non-milk-type milk/yogurt. Fancy-schmancy versions can have oodles of different kinds of add-ins, such as ginseng, protein powder or even peanut butter.
Passover dairy products are just hitting the shelves now, so I don't know if K-for-P Greek yogurt will be available, but if you find any, BUY IT! Greek yogurt, even the low-fat variety, is much thicker than regular yogurt. I've used either on occasion, and Greek-style makes a much better, thicker smoothie.
I like strawberries and, by coincidence, the produce section just happens to be exploding with pints of the bright red fruit. Bananas are a nice addition. I've made smoothies without banana, but aside from boosting the flavor, banana helps to thicken everything up as well (gee, I seem to be hung up a little thick, dontcha think?).
The original didn't include pineapple juice, but I had a quarter-cup hiding in the freezer so it got dumped in with the ice. Tip Alert! Next time you use canned pineapple, freeze the juice/syrup in a bag for later use. Almost like getting it free!
Cardamon is a sweet spice that traditionally adds a je ne sais quoi (French for Geoffrey Holder) to apple desserts. The original smoothie recipe didn't include cardamon either, but I glanced over an Indian lassi recipe someplace that did have it and it sounded like a good thing to toss in.
Strawberry Smoothie- Easy
adapted from NJ Dept. of health
makes 2 tall servings
1 cup ripe strawberries
1 (6 oz.) container plain, low-fat or non-fat yogurt, Greek-style if available
1/2 cup milk (whole or low-fat)
1 banana
1/4 tsp. cardamon (optional)
1/4-1/2 cup pineapple juice, chilled or frozen (optional)
1/2 cup ice cubes
Rinse the strawberries and cut off the green tops. Coarsely slice strawbs into chunks; drop'em in a food processor or blender.
Add the yogurt. See how thick the Greek yogurt looks? Almost like whipped cream. Almost. You'd have to drain regular yogurt overnight to get this thickness!
Peel and slice up the banana into chunks and toss it in.
Drizzle with the honey ...
... and milk. Sprinkle on cardamon, if desired.
Give the ingredients a whirl until relatively smooth.
Add pineapple juice, if desired (no need to defrost if frozen).
Follow with the ice cubes. My ice dispenser unilaterally decided that I really wanted crushed ice. :P
Process some more until the smoothie is really more better smooth.
Carefully pour into a couple of tall glasses.
Clean up the mess you made because you have terrible aim. No, wait ... I mean me.
Dunk in a straw and serve immediately or refrigerate up to a few hours.
Ooooh! Passover food! Wadja get me! Wadja get me!
Strawberry
Sounds yummy. Just one note...watch out for any "low-fat yogurt", even low-fat Greek yogurt that has Kosher Gelatin in it. The kosher gelatin is made from cow's hoofs, therefore making the yogurt itself, not kosher (or vegetarian in my case).
ReplyDeleteJust took a look at the non-fat Greek yogurt I used to make a smoothie this morning. It has an O-U hechsher (kosher certification) and contains NO gelatin.
ReplyDeleteBut even if a yogurt contains gelatin, if it is labeled kosher, then by definition cow hooves could not have been used.
I followed you from the foodie blog roll and I love the recipes you have here.I made this smoothie today and adding the banana and pineapple juice was amazing! I'd love to guide Foodista readers to your site. I hope you could add this strawberry widget at the end of this post so we could add you in our list of food bloggers who blogged about recipes with strawberries,Thanks!
ReplyDelete@Alisa, done! Thanks for the invite!
ReplyDelete