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banana smoothie

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Drinks

Simple Energizing Green Smoothie.

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When I was a kid on the islands smoothies wasn’t a ‘thing”, however we did have ‘punches’! With milk (in most cases) as it’s base, they included many of the exotic tropical fruits we are blessed with in the Caribbean. Today you can still see many punch vendors (known as the “punch-man”) in all the major cities and towns, but smoothies are just as common and many people include them as part of their daily breakfast or workout regime.

With all the requests I’ve been getting lately, I’ve decided to dedicate a full week to smoothies for your enjoyment!

You’ll Need…

1 stick celery
1 mango
2 cups spinach
2-3 cups coconut water
1/2 avocado
2 thin slices of ginger
1 banana

Wash the spinach and drain, then give the celery a rough chop and add them both to your blender. Go in with the ripe banana, ginger (I didn’t even bother peeling it) as well as the peeled avocado and diced mango.

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Top with the coconut water and hit the puree or blend setting on your blender for a couple minutes (my blender had a smoothie setting). Feel free to add a few cubes of ice if you wish and frozen mango (pre packaged)  will work just as well as fresh mango if that’s all you have access to.

I usually chill my ingredients, especially the mango and coconut water so I don’t have use ice cubes, which can water-down this smoothie. Please drink immediately or you’ll find that it will not maintain in brilliant color and may start to break down (separate) after it’s been sitting for a while.

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* You can go in with a tablespoon or more of honey or agave, if you’d like to ad a bit more sweetness than what the banana and mango will already have.

Desserts Drinks

Classic Caribbean Banana Punch (banana smoothie).

7 Comments on Classic Caribbean Banana Punch (banana smoothie).

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What’s a month of grilling without a refreshing dessert in a glass? There’s no better way to start (or finish) the day on those hot summer days, than a refreshing glass of banana punch. I guess for most people outside the Caribbean this would be called a ‘shake’ or smoothie, but as with all thick fruity drinks in the Caribbean.. it’s a punch! With ripe bananas and cold milk as the base, we’ll build on that foundation with some spices, rich vanilla ice cream and if you’d like to make this ‘big people’ exclusive, you can go in with some rum!

You’ll Need…

2 ripe bananas
1 cup vanilla ice cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoon honey
3 cups cold milk
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

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Basically all you have to do is place all the ingredients in a blender and give blitz until you have a smooth (and creamy) consistency. I didn’t add any ice to this as you’d normally do with a smoothie, but you can do so if you want to impress your kids. I don’t like adding ice to the blender (or in the glass I’m serving it in) as I find that it dilutes the overall flavor of the banana punch, so I start off with very cold milk.

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You can always go in with some coconut flavored rum (or any rum you like) to give this banana punch a more grown-up appeal, and it’s also an excellent way to put overripe bananas to use. If you like banana bread, you’ll love the subtle notes of cinnamon and nutmeg in this drink. Do serve immediately.

Are you liking the food and drinks of this year’s July Month of Grilling? Do leave your comments below and kindly share the recipes on Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook.

Special Note: This recipe is traditionally done with sweetened condensed milk and not necessarily the honey and ice cream my version adopts!