This gingery turmeric smoothie is packed with fresh pineapple and banana, for a healthy, refreshing drink that tastes like a piña colada.
Did you eat too much Halloween candy yesterday? I'm glad to say that I did not. I made sure of that by purchasing candy that I don't like. This Halloween candy issue issue is new to me since I moved to my current neighborhood four years ago. Before that I lived in places where nobody really trick-or-treated. Anyway, there's a fine line between buying treats that you don't like and being the lady with the crappy candy. I'm always conscious of this and I think I've got it down to an art, the key of which is avoiding chocolate. If I buy candy that isn't chocolate, it's unlikely that I'll have any interest.
This smoothie is for anyone who did overdo it with the candy yesterday (though I wouldn't hesitate to have one even it you did keep the candy consumption under control). I tend to want to eat lightly the day after any celebratory food consumption. It's a tad late to have this for breakfast, at least if you live on the east coast like I do, but it works great as a light lunch or snack as well. I sucked it down as an after workout snack. It's light, so as to balance out any residual heaviness from yesterday's extravaganzas, and also sweet and flavorful, so if you've got any leftover candy hanging around it won't be too difficult to reach for this instead.
What prompted me to make this had nothing to do with candy. I'd been itching to get my hands on some fresh turmeric for a while, and when I finally spotted some at the supermarket I felt a need to go home and put it in something right away. This turmeric smoothie was born. I do a bit of sneaking powdered turmeric into my food for the supposed health benefits - anti-inflammatory and digestive benefits to name a couple - but this was my first time working with the fresh stuff. I've included amounts for fresh and powdered turmeric in the recipe, because I'm guessing most of you don't have the fresh stuff at your disposal. Then I went and blended it up with a couple of other anti-inflammatory digestive tonics - pineapple and ginger. It was delicious enough to make me wish I could give out smoothies to trick-or-treaters.
Turmeric Ginger Colada Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 inch piece fresh turmeric peeled (or 1 tsp. dried turmeric)
- 1 inch piece fresh ginger peeled
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
- 1 cup unflavored soy or almond milk could substitute some or all with coconut milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
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Place turmeric, ginger, banana and pineapple in blender and blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides of pitcher as needed.
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Add milk and vanilla. Blend again until smooth.
Recipe Notes
If you substitute coconut milk, you'll get something that tastes even more like a pina coloda. I opted to go with unflavored soy milk, to keep my smoothie on the light side.
I don't have a halloween candy situation on my hands because Halloween isn't really a thing here (which is a HUGE bummer) but I also just got my hands on fresh turmeric for the first time this week, and I haven't done anything with it yet. I've got everything but the pineapple on hand, so once I've got that sorted this smoothie is gonna get in mah belly. Or maybe I'll sub in frozen mango, which I do have. Yummers! Can't wait to try this!
Oh perfect! And I think frozen mango would work great - I've been wanting to throw some mangoes in smoothies myself lately, but I keep buying them and finding that they're brown inside. When I can get a hold of a good one I might try this with mango as a sub or even in addition to the pineapple.
This look wonderfull and tasty but do you know how many carbs are in it? I have a problem whit them can twick your recipy if carbs # is known. thank you
Thanks Carole! I don't usually do nutritional calculations for my recipes because there are too many variables (different brands, etc.) . You could try using a site like Calorie Count to find the carbohydrates. I can say that this wouldn't be considered a low carb recipe, as the pineapple, banana and non dairy milk would all contribute moderately to the carbohydrate levels.
This looks sooo resfreshing! Anything close to a Pina Colada is a win in my books :) I often use powdered tumeric in my smoothies but I've never bought or worked with the fresh stuff. I'll have to give it a try!
Can't wait to begin trying some of your recipes!
Thank you so much :)
Happy 2015 to you, too.
Cheers,
Cath
Thank you Cath! Happy New year and best wishes in 2015 to you as well!!!