It’s been a while since we talked about smoothies on this here blog. To be honest, we never got out of the oatmeal habit this summer. Our AC has been blasting, we’ve been obsessed with almond butter and bananas, and I’ve been wayyy too lazy to wash out the food processor… and yes, I make our smoothies in the food processor! It’s more powerful than our blender, so it wins every time.
So, no smoothies for breakfast (or the blog) recently. But we have had smoothies after long runs on the weekend – second breakfast, I guess you could call it. That was the case with this recipe, which I whipped up after bringing home the equivalent of about $80 in fresh basil from my friends’ garden. Right after making two batches of pesto, and right before making pesto bean dip :) All the basil!
I usually opt for spinach in smoothies, mostly because it’s so easy to grab a handful of, but the bulging bag of basil in my fridge necessitated some creativity. Not gonna lie, if I’d had to pay for that basil, this smoothie wouldn’t have happened. And by no means would I recommend buying $6 of basil to make it! That just sounds silly (and if you have to spend $6 on basil, it should totally be for pesto.) But if you happen to have basil in abundance, you know what needs to be done.
I chose blackberries because the combination just sounded good, but you KNOW this would be equally delicious with blueberries, strawberries, or a combination of one or all of those things. Basil tastes good with prettttty much everything, and the more berries the merrier! Isn’t that always the case?! Just be aware that if not using a high speed blender, very seedy berries (like blackberries) will have a rather gritty texture. It didn’t bother us, but come to think of it, that may be why bags of mixed frozen berries are so popular.
In other news, I have been all about the backlit photos recently. I’m often totally unsatisfied with a photo setup until I turn it sideways and step across from the window. Then it’s like the heavens open up and everything just clicks! Well, maybe not everything… but if I take some sidelit photos and some backlit, I end up using the backlit ones 9 times out of 10. That’s precisely what happened with these smoothies! #backlitisbetter
What’s been your favorite smoothie combination lately? All that basil provided some great inspiration, but I’m wanting to get back into the smoothie swing of things and want to know what you all are blending up!
- 3 dates, pitted and chopped (and soaked in water for 10-20 minutes if not using a high-speed blender)
- 1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves
- 1 cup frozen blackberries
- 1 frozen banana, sliced
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup plain unsweetened almond milk (or milk of choice)
- 2 Tbsp almond butter
- 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed
- sprinkle of cinnamon
- dash of vanilla extract (optional)
- Blend all ingredients until smooth. Enjoy!
Gah, I WISH I had access to all that basil! It would be pesto and smoothies like this all day every day
I am totally going crazy eyes over these pictures. I wish I could have followed you around as you photographed these gorg smoothies…the pics are seriously stunning. I’m going to have to experiment with that back lit trick! PS–basil in allllll the things :)
There’s that pretty green! ;)
These are gorgeous and would be so perfect after a long hot run! I think someone needs to buy both of us Vitamixers…what’s the plural of Vitamix? Vitamixes?
And yes, I’m all about the backlit shot! The way the light reflects off the surface is so much more impressive!
That’s a lot of basil. I wish I had that much sitting around in my kitchen too. And that smoothie is stunning.
Perfect timing – I have a whole thing of blackberries in my refrigerator and was thinking about what I could use them for. I’m always up for a tasty fruit and herb smoothie! Your backlit photos are absolutely gorgeous!! I love how light and colorful they turn out in spite of being back-lit…mine always end up with tooooons of shadows…feel like I could use a back-lighting lesson from you, my dear!!
Basil in a smoothie?! Oh my gosh that sounds so refreshing–I never would have thought of that. Pinning!
These look delicious. Lately I’ve been inspired by coco flakes, dates and cardamom!
never thought of adding basil! curious to know what these smoothies tastes like!
I love the coulour in these photos – I love anything purple. And I can’t wait to try these smoothies, blackberries remind me of my childhood.
basil in a smoothie is so clever ;-)
Beautiful smoothies. I love the little sprinkle of cinnamon on top- I put cinnamon on just about everything. The blackberries are making me miss home (the Northwest!). No blackberries in the tropics where i am living :(