A Thailand inspired smoothie

I was thinking about our trip to Thailand recently. We had a great week- so many amazing memories.  So I thought it would be fun to bring some of those tropical vibes to grey ‘ol Norfolk the next time I made a smoothie. I’m quite into my smoothies lately- I love their slurpableness (what a cool word). Instead of my usual strawberries or kiwi ingredients, here is a Thailand inspired smoothie recipe that tastes almost as good as being there.

Fun fact- Thailand is the world’s biggest exporter of pineapples. There are plump golden mangoes on every street corner. Some part of a coconut is used in almost every dish. Bananas, lychees, durian, watermelon, dragon fruit, passion fruit, star fruit… the list is endless. Its safe to say Thailand knows its fruit. When we were there we loved buying fresh fruit from the many roadside stalls, drinking coconut water on the beach and being followed by the sweet smell of banana pancakes wherever we went.

This shouldn’t really be called a recipe because its too easy (perfect for cooks of my ability). But here is what I used for this delicious smoothie (this makes enough for two, or one incredibly greedy soul):

• 1 small ripe banana
• 10-15 chunks of pineapple
• two small pieces of mango
• 300g of plain yoghurt (use any type you like)
• 3 tablespoons honey

Chuck them all in a blender and whizz it up.

All together, the tangy pineapple contrasts well with the sweet mango and honey whilst the banana and yoghurt make it all creamy and amazing.

Incase you need more persuasion to try it… Pineapples are incredibly good for you. These spiky customers are full of potassium, copper, manganese, calcium, Vitamin C and even beta-carotene. This means benefits to your immune system health, bones, blood pressure, tissue health and even cancer prevention. We all know that bananas are full of potassium, but they also contain pectin which aids digestion, as well as iron (which was news to me). Mangoes… ok, mangoes aren’t bursting with health benefits. But they are tasty and what’s a tropical smoothie without mango anyway?

Yoghurt meanwhile is one of my favourite things to eat, and if you choose one with live cultures, its good for your gut too. And finally honey- another one of my favourite things. Because smoothies can never be too sweet.

So go and make yourself a little glass of sunshine. If you want even more tropical yumminess, try making some mango and coconut ice-cream (the recipe’s on Nutmeg and Pear).

All photos my own