My birthday party last weekend was great fun. The only snafu? Excess victuals. There must have been 1 pie per person in attendance at our gathering. And while a good time seemed to be had by all –a couple handfuls of children jumped on the trampoline with the sprinklers going under it –my refrigerator was still overflowing by the evening’s end.
Luckily, our friends Chris and Larry had their own soiree the next night and were kind enough to let me bring my extra quiche, pies and cookies to their place to serve to their guests. So, as you can see it was quite a busy weekend.
Right now the boys and I are in recuperation mode, making quick and easy snacks and meals. Yesterday, my younger son came up with this delicious fruit smoothie comprised of raspberries and peaches –very refreshing. While his version of the beverage calls for apple juice (super sweet in result), mine uses rich and creamy cashews blended with water (cashew milk), adding a bit of protein to balance out the sweetness of the fruit.
Raspberry Smoothie
Ingredients
- 2 cups (raw) cashews, soaked 4-8 hours, discard soaking water
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup raspberries (frozen)
- 1 cup peaches (frozen)
- 2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 ice cubes (if you want it colder)
Instructions
- Place cashews and water in a vitamix and process on high speed until creamy, about 1 minute
- Add raspberries, peaches, agave and vanilla and blend until rich and smooth
- Blend in ice cubes if desired
- Serve in tall glasses
Equipment
You can always make this without soaking the cashews, however it will be much creamier if soaked prior to making the smoothie. Also, be forewarned that I made this in my Vitamix and cannot vouch for the results when using a regular blender. I highly recommend the Vitamix; I use mine at least once a day and it may be one of the best major investments I have made –ever.
I drank a lot of this tasty, refreshing smoothie this afternoon; it’s delicious and quite filling! Enjoy.
Kirsten says
Hi Elana, I am 14 years old and love to cook and bake. My mom and I just started going on your website and we love the gluten free recipes. My mom found out that she is gluten intolerant and we thought that we were going to be limited on what we could cook. Now that we found your website, we have been in the kitchen everyday almost all day cooking gluten free meals. Thank you so much for posting this recipe.
Mikey says
A smoothie that my partner and I used to make was Almond milk, Sunflower seed butter, bananas (i like it better with out the Nanners) and flax seeds, We would put them together in a blender and let it blend into a smooth, creamy smoothie! It is so so so so so so so so good. I just wanted to suggest this cause i had no idea where to put it…
Jenni says
Elana,
I have been making green smoothies for about a month now and I have a few that I like a lot. You put whatever greens you like and a combination of fruit to your taste. You can’t taste the greens at all. The great thing about green smoothies is that you can throw whatever you want in it. If you want less fruit, use less fruit. I am very sensitive to sugar and a lot of carbs but even with all of the fruit these smoothies don’t bother me and leave me very satisfied for hours. My concoctions are still pretty basic without too many “weird” things which is a good place for anyone to begin. Here is one of my family’s favorite smoothies:
Hawaiian Delight Green Smoothie
lots of spinach and a couple leaves of Kale(Organic if possible)
1/2 pear
1 banana
1 ring of pineapple
1 cup water
1 cup coconut milk (canned)
1-2 T flax seed
You can fill the blender up with your greens and add your liquid and blend it down to make space for your fruit.
Blend until smooth.
I have a couple more listed here: http://someofthisandadashofthat.blogspot.com/
Let me know if you try it and what you put together!
Thanks again,
Jenni
elana says
Jenni,
You are very welcome. I sometimes do green juice, though haven’t made green smoothies. Sounds good. What do you put in yours?
Elana
Jenni says
Elana,
Hello! This smoothie looks very yummy and I will definitely be trying this one. I do have a question for you. Do you make green smoothies? I have recently gotten on the green smoothie band wagon and I love them, but I was wondering if you have any concoctions that you could share. I have found that green smoothies have helped me tremendously with eating a gluten free diet, low glycemic diet. My desire for sugar and gluten filled foods have plummeted since I have started drinking them, among other things.
Oh by the way I have tried your cashew milk recipe and I love it! It is so easy and I prefer the consistency of it over almond milk. I use it a lot in my smoothies. Thanks again for sharing all of your wonderful recipes!
elana says
~M -Yes, I have both the dry and the wet containers for the vita-mix. I rarely use the dry, though it’s nice to have around. I use my vita-mix at least twice a day.
Heidi -Thanks for the birthday wishes and hooray for the vita-mix.
lifeinrecipes says
Happy belated birthday!
The smoothie looks as satisfying as any rich milkshake.
I bought my Vita-mix a year ago and since it has become my best friend in the kitchen – never looked back on the inital $. Actually, I constructed mine as a hybrid: Waring base (higher hp), and Vita-mix container.
~M says
Hi Elana,
Do you have both the container for the dry blade for your vitamix (which grinds grains into flours) and the container for the wet blade (like a normal blender) or just the later?
I can’t tell whether it makes sense for me to have the dry blade container…
Thanks,
M
elana says
Viktoria -You’re welcome; you are in one of my favorite places in the world, Vancouver.
Viktoria says
Thanks so much, Elana. Love your blog. So inspiring!
Viktoria, in Vancouver, B.C.