Seasonal Refreshment: A Winter Time Smoothie

An excellent way to boost energy is the inclusion in your day of the versatile and always popular Smoothie. This Winter Time version is an interesting twist on the classic blender beverage.  It warms the body and the spirit with the spicy tastes of fresh ginger root, cardamom, and blood oranges.  Mixed with strawberries and banana in almond milk, this drink is sure to tickle your palate as well as your fancy.

Warming Winter Time Smoothie

You'll need: 

(for 2 pint glass Smoothies)  3 cups almond milk,  2 bananas, 2 blood oranges, 1/2 cup fresh or frozen strawberries, 2 tablespoons chopped ginger, 1 teaspoon ground cardamom.

Organic Moro Blood Oranges from California

Making the Smoothie:

Peel and slice blood orange. Citrus seeds contain a rich nutrient profile and are commonly processed along with orange flesh in blender drinks.    

Dark Purple Blood Oranges and Ginger

 

Chopped Oranges, Ginger and Strawberries

 Chop fresh ginger root, and cut orange slices into small pieces.







Add frozen or fresh strawberries to blender along with orange and ginger root.

Ripe Bananas

Peel bananas and break into pieces and place these in the blender.

Tiny Cardamom Seeds and Pungent Powdered Cardamom

Grind cardamom seeds into a fine powder in a spice mill or coffee grinder.

Fruit with Almond Milk and Cardamom

Add almond milk and ground cardamom to blood oranges, bananas, ginger and strawberries in the blender.

Perfectly Frothy

Blend for 1 - 2 minutes until smooth and frothy.

Ready to Serve

 Pour into glasses, decorate with sliced strawberries, and enjoy. The combination of the blood orange and the almond milk creates a slight  fizzy sensation like a carbonated drink.

About the Spices: 

 

Cardamom (Ellattaria cardamomum): A popular spice of the ancient world, cardamom is noted as a cultivar grown by the King in the Royal Gardens of Babylon in 720 B.C.E. This bittersweet spice is often used in Indian, Chinese and Thai cuisines. It has a dynamic flavor which is said to add “lemon overtones and a distinct hint of eucalyptus and camphor” to food.An herbaceous perennial, the cardamom bush grows in India and Sri Lanka, and is a member of the ginger family. The spice has a gentle warming effect on the body, and is often ground and added to coffee because it is thought to “raise the spirits and enliven the heart”

 

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) with its fresh, warm and lemony sharpness increases circulation and facilitates digestion.