Turmeric is loaded with many health benefits. The curcumin in turmeric gives it the beautiful yellow color and spice flavor but is also a powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant.
Ginger has long been touted in ayurvedic and Chinese medicine for its medical properties. It, too, can ease anti-inflammation.
Full of anti-inflammatory goodness, this powerful, green smoothie is made delicious with spinach, kale, coconut water with a dash of lemon, ginger, and turmeric.
Servings: 2 servings
Ingredients:
1 cup unsweetened coconut water
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
Pinch of turmeric
Juice of half a lemon
1 cup kale
1 cup spinach
1/2 cup ice cubes
Method:
Put all ingredients into a blender. Blend and serve cold. Enjoy!
A vegan, simple, delicious, cleansing smoothie with all the goodness of apples, spinach, fiber and healthy fats. It tastes great and will leave you satiated.
Total time: under 10 minutes
Servings: 2
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh spinach leaves
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 tablespoon flax seeds
1 green apple cored and chopped
1.5 cup almond or oat milk
Optional: 1 scoop collagen, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (makes it taste even better and is so good for you!)
Method:
Add all ingredients to a blender with the milk at the bottom
After some over indulging, especially over holidays, on vacation, or after a big party, you just feel the need to reset. This Green Smoothie is a delightful way to do just that and not only makes you feel good about yourself, it puts you back on track. overboard on indulgent eats and treats during the holidays, on vacation, or for celebrations, and need something to get back on track, right? That’s where my Green Detox Smoothie comes in handy
Servings: 2 large servings
Time to prep and make: less than 5 minutes
Ingredients
1 cup green apple cubed
1 tbsp ginger
1/8th cup lemon juice
2 cups greens (spinach, kale)
2 cups coconut water (cold)
Method
Pour the coconut water into a blenderAdd the remaining ingredients
Falooda is a quintessential summer drink in India. It has a lot of resemblance to the popular drink Boba. Made with layers of rose syrup, basil seeds, creamy milk, vermicelli, ice cream and jello, it will keep you thirsting for more!
While my mom made this frequently at home, the highlight of a trip to Mumbai was a visit to Badshah’s, in Crawford Market where their Falooda was to die for. That was her favorite restaurant and now a trip to Mumbai with our kids always includes that stop!
Servings: 6. Time: 15-30 mins including the time to soak the seeds but not including the time to set the optional jello
Ingredients
3 cups – Chilled milk
1 packet Falooda sev (looks like yellow thin noodles) usually found in an Indian grocery store
2 tbsp – Subja/Takmuria seeds (optionally use chia seeds). Subja seeds are good for digestion and found in Indian grocery stores
1 cup – Rose syrup (Sharbat Rooh Afza bottle) or more to meet the desired sweetness
6 scoops Vanilla or Strawberry ice creamor a flavor of choice
1 packet Jello – strawberry flavor (optional)
Method
If using Jello, make it as per the instructions on the box and refrigerate to set.
Cook the Falooda sev per the instructions on the packet or follow these instructions. In a cooking vessel, add 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Add the Falooda sev/noodles and boil for 7 minutes, remove from the stove, drain the water and then add 3 cups of cold water and keep aside the cooked sev.
In another bowl, soak the subja seeds in 3 cups of water for 30 minutes. You will notice the seeds plump up.
Take 6 glasses in which you intend serving the Falooda. Pour a half cup of milk into each glass.
To each cup, add in 1/8th cup (2 tbsp) of the rose syrup to each glass and stir until blended. You can always add more syrup for desired sweetness.
Add in 2 tablespoons of jello along with 2 tablespoons of sev and 2 teaspoons of sabja seeds, in each cup.
For those hot summer days, here’s something to cool you down.
Dragon fruit aka pitaya is a superfruit native to Central America. It is a fantastic source of fiber, magnesium and vitamin C. The perfect fruit to start the day energized or to refresh yourself at the end of a hot day.
Prep: 5 minutes Servings: 4
Ingredients
1 can (403ml) unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup frozen dragon fruit
1 banana
1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
Sweetner of choice, as desired
Method
Pour coconut milk into the blender bowl
Add in the remaining ingredients
Blend 45 seconds
Pour into serving containers
Add in toppings of your choice like raspberries, almond slices, granola, banana slices, or pineapple chunks
You are guaranteed to be pleasantly surprised with this oat-filled smoothie. Raw oats are safe to eat. They aid weight-loss and improve heart and gut health. It makes a smoothie heartier and more filling. Blueberries are a nutritional powerhouse, full of anti-oxidants.
Interestingly when Nilesh’s cholesterol numbers went up, one of the ways to manage that was with regular oatmeal for breakfast.
Ingredients
1 cup cold almond milk 3/4 cup old-fashioned oats, dry 1 cup blueberries 1 tbsp maple syrup
Method
Fill a blender with all the above mentioned ingredients. Blend…sluuurp!!
Transport yourself to the tropics with a sweet, refreshing mango pineapple smoothie served over chewy boba pearls.
Bubble tea originated in Taiwan, a concoction of tea with chewy tapioca balls i.e. Boba. Over the last couple of years, we have seen a rise in Boba cafes offering boba tea and boba smoothies. My kids LOVE it and a smoothie with tapioca balls is just the thing that has them smiling from ear to ear. Anyone else find that food is usually the one thing that can put a grumpy teen into a good mood??
And here’s an idea: we did a Boba-themed birthday party and it was a hit with the tween/teen crowd….see pic below. You can make other smoothies and drop in the boba.
A lot of grocery stores now carry tapioca balls and of the ones I’ve tried, the one I like the most is WuFuYuan -tapioca pearls. (It is usually cheaper in an Asian store than Amazon). The pearls from this brand consistently turn out like the cafe-bought boba and the kids like the flavor.
2 cups unsweetened mango pulp (usually available in the Indian grocery store much cheaper!)
2 cups of pineapple chunks
1 can unsweetened coconut milk
10 ice cubes
Method
Cooking Boba
Follow the instructions that come with the dry tapioca pearls (the ones I buy require me to cook the pearls in boiling water for 3 minutes, switch off flame, cover and leave for 3 minutes, then drain water and soak the cooked boba in cold water till ready to use. If your boba comes unflavored, after cooking soak it in a combination of honey and water to sweeten it)
Making the smoothie
Combine mango pulp, pineapple chunks, coconut milk and ice cubes in a blender and blend until smooth
To serve, drop in 3 spoons of boba (drain off the water) into the bottom of a glass and then pour the smoothie over it. Use a wide straw to slurp up the boba along with the smoothie
Smoothies are full of vitamins and minerals with a lot of flavor to jump-start your day. Not only is it nutrient-packed, it also keeps hunger pangs at bay, definitely a better alternative to snacking on calories. This fruit-only smoothie is a nice alternative to a green-smoothie, sweetened with a dash of honey!
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
1.5 cups cold milk
4 ice cubes
1 cup Greek Yogurt
1 tbsp honey (or sweetener of choice)
2 cups sweet blueberries
1 cup pear, seeded and chopped
Method:
Add ingredients to a blender in the order listed above. Blend, pour and enjoy!
How about a warming smoothie to get you through the winter?
Green smoothies are one of the best ways to start your morning. It’s nutrient dense and is an easy and quick way to get in a healthy meal, especially for those on-the-go. Get a good blender and mix in the right vegetables and fruits and your aversion to drinking a green smoothie will quickly dissipate. Spinach is low in calories, but high in folate, calcium, fiber and vitamins. It is rich in cancer-fighting antioxidants. Try this smoothie which couples spinach with ginger and pears. Pears support heart, brain and gut health and ginger has anti-cancer and anti-inflammation properties but also keeps the sore throat at bay.
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
1 cup spinach
2 ripe pears, diced
1tbsp ginger, diced (or less if you are not a ginger fan)
1 ripe banana
4 pitted dates (I use this for sweetness)
1/3 cup Greek yogurt
2 cups milk
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
2 scoops flax
Method:
Blend all ingredients. And enjoy….this is a smoothie that can tide you through lunch.
Chai….a staple of Indian homes. I didn’t really drink tea while growing up. Unlike Nilesh, who comes from a family that doesn’t get moving until they’ve had at least two cups of tea. So, I’ve learnt that the best way to get Nilesh moving is to have that cup of chai ready for when he wakes up, and woah, that honey-do-list gets moving in earnest! Kidding aside, we both swear that this ginger, cardamom combination not only is a great start to the day but the ginger keeps those sore throats away! On weekends, grab a cup of chai and the newspaper and it’s the perfect start to the weekend.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
1 cup milk
1 cup water
2 tsp tea leaves (typically, 1 per cup of tea)
Sugar to taste
For Ginger-Cardamom tea
1/2 tsp finely minced /grated ginger
3 green cardamom pods with seeds – crushed
Instructions:
In a pan on stovetop, mix water and milk
When mixture starts to bubble, add in the ginger and cardamom
Bring mixture to boil, and add tea leaves and switch off stove
Healthy, filling, satisfying start to the day! No time for a sit-down breakfast but want something that’s healthy and keeps you satiated for a few hours? This perfect combination of oats, blueberries, bananas and chocolate along with some flaxseed is a smoothie packed with beneficial nutrients, omega-3 fatty acids and fiber. Perfect for an on-the-go meal!
Almonds + Berries + Chocolate = Loads of Antioxidants! And kids just love any chocolate drink. So, motivate yourself and the kids to get moving and then come back for this delicious smoothie.
Now I do use Orgain’s protein powder. It fuels your body with clean, organic protein and other nutrients. Given that it’s all plant-based, I don’t think twice when the kids make a smoothie with it.
Apple pie, anyone?? How about apples and cinnamon for breakfast? This smoothie is a rif on a smoothie I came across in Mens Health magazine. We loved the flavor of sesame seeds, this one incorporates. A delicious, protein-filled smoothie that’s bursting with flavor.
The Pretty-in-Pink Smoothie gets it’s vibrant color from Dragon Fruit. This tropical fruit has a subtle sweet flavor that can be described as a cross between a pear, kiwi and watermelon. It’s rich in anti-oxidants, high in fiber and could potentially lower your blood sugar. It can also strengthen your immune system and boost your iron. Combine that with peanut butter which has plenty of protein, high in fiber and good for your bones – and you get a delicious, great-looking and good-for-you smoothie!
Lassi is basically a yogurt based drink that originated in the Indian subcontinent. It is typically a blend of yoghurt, water or milk, spices and sometimes fruit.
Ingredients (makes 4 servings):
2 cups Mango Pulp (or 3 cups Mango cubes fresh mango peeled and chopped, choose very ripe mangoes or frozen mango)
2 cups Greek Yogurt
1 cup Ice
1/4 cup Cold Water
A Blender
To begin, pour in your Mango Pulp into the blender, followed by the Greek Yogurt. Next, add your ice. If you would like there to be more or less ice, feel free to experiment! Then, add your water so that the lassi is easier to Blend. Lastly, blend! Pour a glass and enjoy!
Memories of Home 