This smoothie is sneaking in on the last day of April – just by the skin of its teeth!
I have to be honest with you. I’ve been on holiday, so I haven’t been to the Otago Farmers Market for a few weeks. I bought some of the ingredients for this on my most recent market visit in mid-April. It’s quite possible that there are no plums or strawberries now (although there were plums for sale in Central Otago at the weekend, and we’ve only just finished getting strawberries from our garden! They were super-late this year, but the last ones were delicious).
In place of plums you could use feijoas, and frozen berries work well in place of fresh. Frozen blueberries are particularly good in this smoothie and they’ll obviously change the colour. That may not bother you at all; however my six-year-old is distinctly unimpressed by the smoothies which turn a freaky purple-brown hue.
I often add half an avocado or a spoonful of flaxseed oil to smoothies – avocado makes them especially creamy (banana does this too), and healthy fats help with the absorption of nutrients from all those lovely fruits and veges. Since you’ve put so much goodness in there, you might as well get as much out of it as possible too!
Farmers Market Smoothie – April
1.5 cups water
2 ripe pears, cores removed
1 cup strawberries (or frozen berries)
3 – 4 plums, stones removed (and/or pulp from 2 – 3 feijoas)
1 large handful of greens (lettuce/kale/cavolo nero or baby spinach leaves)
1 handful of mint leaves
1 tablespoon flaxseed oil (optional)
Blend all ingredients (except oil) until smooth. Add oil at the end and blend again briefly. Slurp happily!
NB. If using kale or cavolo nero, use only the soft part of the leaves. Remove stalks and discard, or chop finely and add to another recipe such as a soup.
In case you haven’t already noticed, all of the recipes have their own printable pages – this smoothie’s one is here. And now that I have your attention, if you’re thinking of booking into a workshop/demo or buying someone a gift voucher, check back in the next day or so – I’m about to announce a Mother’s Day special!
