#smoothology

Introduction:

Ok, so it's not the most original title in the world but come on! It's guacamole!

Seriously, I couldn't live without this stuff. Avocado is such an amazing fruit. It's creamy, great for the metabolism and a mild-mannered conduit for some of the most exciting flavours out there. Ever made a taste bud dance? Here's how!

Ingredients:

- 2 x ripe avocado

- 4 x cloves of garlic

- 1/2 a tomato - grated

- 1/2 a tomato - chopped

- Zest of 1/2 a lemon

- Juice of 1/2 a lemon

- Small handful of jarred jalapeno slices 

- Handful of fresh coriander - finely chopped

- 100ml milk

Required Utensils:

 - Wooden cutting board

- Sharp knife

- Grater

- Blender

- Large bowl

- Tea spoon

- Tablespoon

Method:

This couldn't be easier to make. Actually, that's a lie, you could make nothing; that would be marginally easier! 

I recommend you start by throwing your garlic, tomato, lemon zest and coriander into a bowl.

Scoop the avocado flesh into your blender (being sure to keep the stones - more on that later) and throw in the jalapenos while you're at it. Now add your milk.

Blitz for a few seconds. You might need to stop and stir once or twice to make sure that everything's mixing properly. The idea is to blend your ingredients together but not so much that everything's perfectly smooth - chunks in guacamole are a good thing, in my humble opinion.

Once your avocado, jalapeno and milk have all blended together, spoon into the bowl with the rest of the ingredients and then squeeze in your lemon juice before stirring thoroughly.

You should end up with something like this:

Unless you're serving right away, it's a good idea to keep your guacamole in an airtight container with the stones. This will help retain that lovely green colour and keep it looking delicious - I've seen brown guacamole and it looks too much like loose stool to be enjoyed properly!

And That's It!

You can serve this with tortilla chips or, my personal recommendation, my own Chunky Veggie Chips. Either way, your taste buds will be scandalised!

Introduction:

I know what you're thinking; this is as shameless a use of innuendo as has ever been seen but my predicament is thus: if I called this adzuki bean and berry smoothie, very few people would read on. Purple Love, however, is a far more attractive proposition to the average internet user!

I have made no secret of my admiration for adzuki beans. This highly versatile superfood is low in fat and calories and high in anti-oxidants, B vitamins and bad-cholesterol-bashing soluble fibre.

Having recently moved to Canada, I spent much of my early days scouring the many supermarkets for tinned adzuki beans that I might incorporate into soups, salads, muffins and smoothies for my own amusement and the greater good of humanity - the noble intention behind my impenetrable ramblings on home-cooking!

Alas, my search appeared to have been in vain until a chance visit to The Bulk Barn - my new favourite shop - changed everything, as I found myself standing before a large receptacle of dry adzuki beans and dreaming of immortality.

Ingredients:

This will serve about 3 people. Be sure to wash all your fruit and veg where necessary!

- 250ml almond milk

- 250ml orange juice (not from concentrate)

- 4 x tbsp softened adzuki beans

- Large handful dried cranberries

- 200g blueberries

- 200g frozen strawberries

- 2 x ripe banana

- 1 x red delicious apple (with the core removed)

Required Utensils:

- Colander

- Saucepan

- Wooden spoon

- Sharp knife

- Cutting board

- Blender

Method: The first thing that you need to do is prepare your adzuki beans. This might take some time so I recommend that you do this in large quantities and then refrigerate what you don't use.

First you need to rinse your beans thoroughly in a colander.

This done, pop them into a saucepan and then add plenty of water. Bring to the boil for a few minutes and then leave to soak for about 2 hours. Please note that the beans will absorb water so you might need to add more from time to time to ensure that they remain covered throughout the soaking period.

Once your beans have soaked for a couple of hours, drain and rinse again thoroughly. This should help remove some of those famously farty sugars!

Throw the beans back into the pan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and then simmer. When your beans have simmered for about 45 minutes, try to mash one against the side of the pan with a fork. If you can do this easily then your beans are ready.

Now, all you need to do is drain, rinse and then pop your beans into a container and store in the fridge to cool until you are ready to use them.

Of course, if you could lay your hands on a tin of adzuki beans then you can ignore most of the above!

When you are ready to make your smoothie, simply pour the almond milk and juice into your blender and then add your fruit and beans. Blend thoroughly and be sure to allow your smoothie to settle between blasts so any chunks can sink to the bottom. This should turn out very smooth indeed, with the exception of the dried cranberries, which will add some texture!

Once served, it should look something like this:

And That’s It!

Introduction:

The trouble with sexing stuff up is that, with the exciting new name, it's often quite difficult to tell what it actually is. In this case, what sounds like something that happens to The Incredible Hulk whenever he listens to Sade is, in fact, a smoothie.

The point of the exercise was to turbo-charge the metabolism with some carefully-selected superfoods while remaining true to my Smoothology values and, well, everybody likes green.

Ingredients:

This will serve about 3 people:

- 250ml almond milk

- 250ml orange juice - not from concentrate

- 250g baby spinach

- 1/2 a ripe avocado

- 3 x kiwi fruits

- 1 x ripe banana

- 400g of tinned peaches - the peaches should be in juice, and not syrup!

Required Utensils:

  - Sharp knife

- Plastic cutting board

- Teaspoon

- Blender

Method:

This is dead easy to make - it's literally a case of chucking everything into the blender and then whizzing it around for a bit; however, I will provide you with some handy hints to help you get the best results!

- Start off by tipping your almond milk and juice into the blender

- The spinach and banana can go straight in with no additional preparation

- Slice the kiwi and the avocado in half and scoop out the flesh with your tea spoon

- Be sure only to add the peach slices without the juice

Now that your ingredients are all in the blender, all you need to do is pop on the lid and hit the button but be mindful of Commandment number 5 - it must be smooth!

The best way to achieve this is to blend in stages. I usually start by giving it a good whiz and then leaving it to settle for a minute or two. This gives any chunks that might haver escaped the blades a chance to sink to the bottom again. Repeating this process a couple of times should achieve the desired effect. While blending/settling, it's a good use of time to do some clearing up so you can enjoy your smoothie in a clean environment!

When blending is complete, your smoothie is ready to serve and, in the glass, should look something like this:

And That's It!

Introduction

Until quite recently, I was very fond of stuffing vast quantities of fruit into a blender, pressing the button and smugly referring to the results as a smoothie.

Technically, this would be the correct term but I feel that the time has come for me to endow my smoothies with a purpose and then set about attaining that purpose without compromising on flavour.

The purpose of a smoothie could vary from the desire to incorporate a superfood; to increase the intake of a specific nutrient or to establish a theme that makes some rudiment of sense. Dear readers, we are about to evolve.

My early experiments have endowed me with the sort of foolhardy confidence that will, over the coming weeks, lead simultaneously to rampant success and abysmal failure as I embark on yet another quixotic quest to become a Smoothologist.

Those who know me are fully aware of my predisposition to charge about, giving very little thought to the task-in-hand so I thought I would take this opportunity to confound my critics and devise The Ten Commandments of Smoothology:

The Commandments

1. You must always aim to make a delicious smoothie

2. The purpose of your smoothie should always remain to increase the intake of nutritious foods

3. No added sugar allowed

4. Each ingredient must have health benefits

5. Never underestimate the importance of texture - the clue is in the name; it's a smoothie

6. Never stop experimenting with different flavours and ingredients

7. Don't get demoralised if your smoothie doesn't turn out as well as you hoped - analyse and improve

8. Forget about ice - use frozen fruit instead

9. Share your secrets with the world - if everyone ate healthily then the world would be a better place