Wednesday 20 February 2013

smoothie with coffee and banana

I made another smoothie today. I wasn't planning on doing so but when a recipe calls for two bananas and you have two bananas on the kitchen side and they are beyond eating (too, too soft for me), then rather than throw them out, or give them to the birds (I have been told blackbirds like bananas but haven't tried this yet), I decided the right course of action was to follow this recipe, kindly mailed to me by Mademoiselle Poirot, after my initial foray into smoothie-ville.

I'll repeat the recipe here as my version differed very slightly, but I do recommend following the link above, not least because the photos that accompany the post are just what a breakfast smoothie should be about.

I don't have a photo of the smoothie I made today. This is partly because I was slightly surprised to discover that, in terms of colour, it was nearly exactly the same as the smoothie I made at the start of the month, that contained spinach. So at least I know I will make a third smoothie, one that is not brown...

This is what I did:

I added 2 heaped teaspoons of instant coffee (decaff variety) to what should have been 100ml of boiling water but was slightly more than that. I gave it a stir to dissolve and put it to one side.

I then added one roughly sliced banana to the blender, poured the coffee on top and gave it a blend. I then added 150ml of Alpro Hazelnut drink, and whizzed the mixture again. I then added the second banana. And blended. And finally I added 30 grams of oat meal (not oat bran as in the original recipe). And blended.

The little blender was at capacity at this point and not all the mixture remained inside it. In fact, it made quite a mess. Well, I made quite a mess. I think the trick is not to overfill and not to rush...

And the result? It looked chocolatey and coffeey, and smelt very bananay. I liked the texture (the oat meal didn't blend down much but added a nice touch, I thought), I liked the strong coffee taste, but this smoothie is definitely one for banana lovers as the taste and aroma were as strong as the coffee. The Alpro provided a subtle background and I'm going to try some on its own later. I did feel a little naughty about including something with refined sugar into a smoothie though. Tut tut. I think I may have done better with a little less banana, and I also think I need to check measurements before filling the blender so high next time...

8 comments:

  1. i love smoothies. my favorite is green bliss....kale, banana, pineapple. you'd never know it was kale. fresh and delish.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've already discovered that I can hide the taste of spinach in smoothies so will have to try kale next - and the though of pineapple in a smoothie...wonderful :) Thanks for the comment :)

      Delete
  2. Thanks so much for mentioning my recipe! I'm really happy you liked it and - despite the blender nearly overflowing - it worked for you :-) Have a lovely evening xo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for sharing the recipe! Yes, I'll have to watch that blender ;)

      Delete
  3. I really need to get a blender! Aside from the oatmeal, this sounds really delicious. Love the idea to add coffee to give it a little quick.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The coffee is a really nice touch :) And blenders are brilliant - well worth the investment!

      Delete
  4. Hmm, this sounds so yummy! I love coffee and bananas! A blender is definitely a great thing. I should make a lot more smoothies!
    Thank you for visiting my blog! Yours is so cute! I'll follow!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you - yours is great too :) Yes, both the banana and the coffee taste really come out well in this recipe - worth a go :)

      Delete

Thank you for leaving a comment - it makes my day to read what you say!