Saturday Smoothies: Mango Mamba

mango smoothieINGREDIENTS:

  • 2 amalfo mangos, cut up *
  • 1 cup fresh raspberries (or frozen if it’s not the season)**
  • 1/2 frozen banana
  • 2 or 3 cubes ice
  • 1 cup (or more) coconut milk or almond milk
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp almond extract
  • 1/4 tsp raspberry extract (optional, and make sure it’s real, not artificial flavoring)
  • 1/2 large lemon, sliced
  • 1/3 cup raw cashews***
  • 1 T. flax meal
  1. Toss all your ingredients in a blender, even the lemon slices with peel (yes, peel too)
  2. Zap on “pulse” until blended well. You might have to add more liquid (coconut milk or almond milk)
  3. Taste and adjust amounts (like, maybe more vanilla or more lemon)

A Few Notes and Links:
* Ataulfo mangos from Mexico, are small, oblong and non fibrous (most other mango varieties are quite fibrous.) Ataulfos are super sweet and creamy, and can be used until they feel really squishy. They also have a much smaller seed so you get more fruit and less waste. Love these!

** Substitute any kind of berry, but remember if you use blueberries or blackberries with the orange mangoes, you will get a grayish or brownish color. Not so appetizing, but it will still taste good. I’m really into the look of food along with the taste. If you were mixing paint colors, and wanted to get a nice gray or brown, you might mix one of these combinations of complementary colors (red/green; yellow/purple; blue/orange) … so unless you want a grayish or brownish smoothie, stick with red berries.

*** They must be raw cashews. Roasted cashews would overpower the other flavors.