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| spinach melon cashew milk smoothie |
February is proving to be a hip and happenin' month with celebrations galore. The two-week extravaganza that is Chinese New Year started on the 10th, for which I'll hopefully create a post to follow this one, and then there's Valentine's Day on the 14th, which likely isn't going to make an appearance on my blog this year, just because, well, I haven't gotten around to preparing anything. Ha!
But despite being a bit lackadaisical in some aspects these days, all's not lost. I'm happy to report that, inspired by my experimental mini-detox, some healthy habits have been kick-started and they are still going strong. There hasn't been a drastic change to my meals - I'm mostly an "everything in moderation" kind of girl, and I don't really "do" diets - but I've been increasing my efforts to include more fresh fruits and vegetables in my regular routine, and I do this by whizzing up a breakfast smoothie every morning, and sometimes, later in the day, too.
So today I'm sharing the recipe for this spinach melon cashew smoothie, which is an accidental favourite from my recent little raw weekend adventure. I have to confess that these days I fling myself into green smoothies with wild abandon, having found out that they aren't as scary as they may seem, and can actually taste pretty fabulous with the right combination and ratio of ingredients. I am also enjoying nut smoothies - I've been using soaked, softened cashews quite often to add a natural milkiness to vegan smoothies and make them more filling.
As a result, we have this green nut smoothie, and here's how it works, ever so nicely.
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| spinach melon cashew smoothie. |
spinach melon cashew milk smoothie (serves 1)
1/4 cup cashews, soaked 3+ hours or overnight, then drained (I used raw cashews)
1 date, pitted (optional, I used a medjool date)
3/4 cup water, + more if required
1 cup rockmelon/cantaloupe flesh (150g / 1/3lb, or approx. 1/8 of a melon - honeydew is a good substitute)
1/2 cup firmly packed baby spinach, or a rough handful
4 ice cubes*
Whiz cashews, date and water together until smooth (or as smooth as you can get it with your blender. This will form the cashew milk base for the smoothie.
Add rockmelon/cantaloupe chunks, spinach and ice cubes, and whiz again until it all breaks down into a thick, slushy mix. Pour and serve immediately. Drink and feel delightful.
*Sometimes I use frozen melon chunks for this smoothie (awesome!), in which case I omit the ice cubes.
Hey, this sounds really interesting Leaf! Never thought of putting any of those ingredients together. And good on ya for going green and healthy. I should try and work more greens into my life too =]
ReplyDeleteThanks, Winston! Smoothies are such a convenient way to sneak in those greens. ;)
DeleteOh, the creaminess of cashews would go so well with the creamy sweetness of rockmelon! I never buy rockmelon, preferring pineapple or watermelon, but this may change my mind (in summer, that is!)
ReplyDeleteOh yes, a cashew rockmelon smoothie is so full of win. Please do try this when you can get your hands on some melony goodness! :D
DeleteI've never been a big fan of cantaloupe (so much so that I initially spelled it incorrectly), but I have a hunch that I would adore it when paired with cashews and spinach. There's just something about creamy cashew milk that gets me all excited! It is the perfect base for so many things:)
ReplyDeleteOh yes, love the creaminess of cashews! And I tend to be more of a honeydew girl but cantaloupe does work beautifully in this recipe, I guess they are pretty similar anyway. I haven't actually made this smoothie with honeydew yet but I shall next week to check out the difference. :D
Deletelooks so tempting leaf!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to wait a while
till melons are around
in this hemisphere...
Thanks Julia! Yes this would make a nice and filling summer smoothie when the season comes around!
DeleteHealthy :) I need this after my Valentines Day feast yesterday. Such a great colour!
ReplyDeleteGood to know that you had what sounds like a satisfying Valentine's Day feast. :D
DeleteHappy CNY :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, the smoothie sounds delicious. I've never attempted my own cashew milk, you make it sound easy...
Thanks Joyti. The beauty of this is that you just blend everything up without having to make cashew milk as a separate task. It does mean tiny crunchy bits of cashew strewn throughout the smoothie but I don't mind it that way. :D
DeleteI'm still trying to get into green smoothies, this one sounds good though, I'm going to give it a go!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jenny! I hope you like it.
DeleteOh this does look very interesting... and I can imagine the melon giving the smoothie a lovely fresh flavour...
ReplyDeletebut, is it bad to imagine adding a hit of midori, malibu and ice, oops, I am bad ;) you are doing so well with the healthy choices, I made resolutions but I have gone a bit wayward already ;)
I will keep coming back for your healthy inspirations :)
Thank you! Feel free to add the liqueurs of your choice. ;) Honestly, I don't eat healthily all the time, but that is precisely why having green smoothies like this one make me feel like at least I'm doing something good and hopefully repairing any damage.
DeleteWhat an interesting smoothie? I think this type of fresh smoothie is the one of the best way to keep up the raw diet and detox your body. I need to feed myself more raw stuff!
ReplyDeleteAnd a green smoothie like this is probably one of the easiest ways to get a raw fix. :D
DeleteI think i feel a smoothie coming on ... though it will banana for me (not so healthy i'm afraid) as i'm trying to use up a bunch of ripe ones and don't have time to make banana bread. Thanks for continuing to share snippets from your detox diet with us.
ReplyDeleteI think a banana smoothie is pretty healthy too. :) I've made so many smoothies over the past few weeks, hopefully I can share some more without getting too monotonous.
DeleteWow love your blog and what you are cooking...awesome. Will be back lots xx
ReplyDeleteThanks, Amber. You're welcome here any time! :)
DeleteI always love a new green smoothie idea! As you know we love green juice in this house... we've used almonds but not cashews, which I imagine would have a much smoother texture. Great idea!
ReplyDeleteThanks Yas! Soaked cashews are really nice and tender, so they do blend easier, but the end result here is still a little chunky. To achieve a smooth texture I'd just blend the cashews and water together first, then strain, before blending the resulting cashew milk together with all the other ingredients... however, I'm too lazy to do that extra step, and I don't mind a bit of roughage. :)
DeleteWhat a great looking smoothie. I have always wanted to make cashew milk and now I think I will give it a go!
ReplyDeleteI guess technically I sort of skipped the cashew milk and went right to a cashew smoothie in this case, but yeah, go for it! :D
DeleteI'm a big fan of green smoothies and this one sounds wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sylvie. :)
DeleteI feel so unhealthy reading your food posts :P This sounds like something Popeye would drink happily!
ReplyDeleteHeheh, it may be healthy, but it's also pretty tasty! :D
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ReplyDelete