Drink me! An immune-boosting smoothie

Don’t you just love smoothies? They are such a quick and easy way to boost your fruit and veg intake and taste amazing. All you need is a blender and faster than you can boil an egg, you have a grab and go breakfast or work-out drink! (Note, I didn’t say eat a bowl of muesli!).

Check out the speckles of goji berry!

This orange and goji smoothie is really delicious; it is fresh, zingy and so refreshing. Orange and goji are rich sources of anti-oxidants and so this recipe is great for the immune-system. (What a great way to fend off the cold and flu!).

To make this smoothie nutritionally dense, I have included ground flaxseed or chia seed, (for an added omega, fibre and protein boost), banana (an excellent source of potassium, vitamin B6 and anti-oxidants) and protein powder (I love plant-derived soya bean and pea).

Note: If you have run out of protein powder, you can substitute for silken tofu, steamed squash or cashews.

Makes: 1 glass (approx. 300ml)

Preparation time: 3 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 orange, peeled and segmented
• ½ frozen banana
• 1 ½ tbsp goji berries
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseed or chia seeds
• Juice from half a lime
• 70 ml chilled coconut water
• 2 tbsp of protein powder (pea or soya bean work well) (or 25g silken tofu or squash or 10g of cashews)
• 5 ice cubes

Optional: for an extra-anti-oxidant zesty burst, you can add either:

• 1 tsp baobab superfruit powder
• 1 tsp camu berry powder

To garnish: a few goji berries

Method:

 Throw all the ingredients in a blender.

Whizz until smooth. Taste and adjust if required. This smoothie is sweet enough for my palate, but it you want it sweeter, you can add ½ tsp honey/ agave/ date syrup or a few drops of stevia.

Pour into a glass. Decorate with a few goji berries and serve. Enjoy!

Variations:

• Include some fresh root ginger (a 2cm chunk)..
• Add 1 tsp lucuma powder as the sweetener instead of honey/ agave/ date syrup/ stevia.
• Include 10 cashews for extra creaminess

Don’t forget you can find my favourite recipes in my FREE eBook here.