Here is my inaugural recipe for Veganomics and my departing beverage for Smoothie-licious. Did you ever smear a banana with peanut butter and roll it in graham cracker crumbs when you were young? Well, this recipe is like that, but instead of graham cracker crumbs, imagine the banana covered in chocolate.

2 tbsp peanut butter
1 banana
1 cup chocolate soy milk 
6-7 ice cubes

Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until very smooth. Reminisce about your childhood as you sip and enjoy.

Economically Friendly: Bananas are inexpensive and peanut butter is a pantry staple.
Ecologically Responsible: Soy milk is environmentally-friendly and the makers of Silk are donating major money to clean energy.
Excellently Healthy: Protein from peanut butter, potassium from bananas, and yummy calcium from soy milk. Just be careful: at approximately 400 calories, this is a meal-replacement smoothie, not just a light snack!

From Health magazine, this smoothie combines tropical mango with exotic mango and sweet strawberries. The original recipe calls for crystallized ginger, but I used fresh ginger for an earthier taste. Fresh ginger lends a slight heat and spicy note to the smoothie, very subtle but pairs well with fresh mango. Strawberries, the basic building block of most smoothies, round out the flavor with natural sweetness. If you like your smoothies sweeter, add a bit of honey.

Like most of my smoothies, this is garnished with mint. It isn’t required, but gives color and a touch of sophistication to a simple drink. Also, when you take a sip, you can inhale the mint’s sweet scent and it adds to the overall flavor of the smoothie.

Fresh Mango-Ginger Smoothie
adapted from Health magazine

1 cup fresh mango, peeled
1 cup fresh strawberries, stems removed and quartered
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
1-2 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced
ice cubes

Combine mango, strawberries, water, and yogurt in a blender. Puree until smooth. Add ginger to taste and 2-3 ice cubes. Blend well. Add additional ice cubes to achieve desired consistency. Makes about 3 cups.

Shown below, generously garnished with mint:

This smoothie recipe is based on the traditional Mexican beverage Agua Fresca, which is water served with fruit or juice. Normally, this mixture is combined with more water, but I left it as is to enjoy the flavor of the papaya.

1 small papaya, peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks
1 cup cold water
1/4 cup sugar
juice of 2 small limes

Combine all ingredients in a blender until very smooth (blend longer than you think is necessary). Serve over ice. Umbrella optional.

From Cooking Light magazine, this smoothie is based on a traditional Cuban beverage (batido is a smoothie made with milk and tropical fruits). Look for a mango with bright coloring and no blemishes on the skin. A ripe mango will yield gently when pressed and have a fragrant scent. You can also find peeled, refrigerated slices, which would be a fine substitution (use about 1 1/2 cups). Use brown sugar instead of honey if you would like your smoothie a bit sweeter.

1 ripe mango, peeled and sliced
1 1/2 cups skim milk
juice of 2 small limes, about 1/4 cup
1 tablespoon honey

Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until very smooth. Pour over ice and serve. Makes about 3 cups.

Shown left, garnished with mint.

You knew it was coming, admit it. Would I really devote an entire project to smoothies without throwing in a little sangria? Of course not!

Back before smoothies were particularly cool or hip, I would make my own (albeit unsophisticated) by throwing strawberries, ice, and a splash of milk in a blender. Since this was before ice-crushing blades, I destroyed many a good blender that way. I dare you to go out and find a blender now that does not have ice-crushing power and other fancy options that turns smoothies into a hassle-free process.

I decided to resurrect my old smoothie “recipe” and take it up a notch by adding sangria. I used a pre-made variety instead of making my own sangria because homemade sangria is really meant to be consumed immediately and doesn’t do well after the first day. Bottled sangria, when properly stored, can be good for 3 days or so (translation: multiple days of sangria smoothie goodness).

1 pint strawberries, stems removed and halved (quarter if large)
1 cup sangria
1 lemon
1 lime
1 cup ice (6-7 cubes)

Combine chopped strawberries and sangria in a blender. Cut lemon and lime in half. Juice one half of each fruit and save second half for garnish (or another batch of smoothies). Puree until smooth.

Add ice, a couple cubes at a time, until mixture has desired consistency. Pour into two glass and garnish with lemon and lime slices (optional). Serve immediately.

James and I did debate whether this constituted a smoothie or if it was a daiquiri. Apparently, an official daiquiri is a cocktail whose main ingredients are rum and lime juice, so technically this is not a daiquiri. Common usage of the term frozen daiquiri, however, has come to include beverages that are mixture of crushed or blended ice, fruit, and alcohol. So, Jenn’s official ruling is that frozen daiquiris fit under the umbrella of smoothies, therefore this drink can be considered both!