In this super quick and easy Green Smoothie recipe, Mia (A.K.A The Travelling Vegan) shares her favourite Tropical Thunder Green Smoothie. Absolutely perfect for summer, this recipe is a really winner (and a firm favourite at Birch & Wilde HQ). Smoothies are such a fantastic way to pack in the nutrition in a really tasty and easy way. If you don’t make them already, it’s definitely time to give it a go! And if you do, we would LOVE to hear your favourite combinations – comment below! 

More about Mia and her Soulful Food 

Hi, I'm Mia, veg and fruit lover extraordinaire. My plant-based journey started with a love for this planet and everyone who's living on it. Through travel, experimenting, and a lot of curiosity, I have discovered just how easy, accessible, and simple (yet diverse, tasty and nutritious!) vegan food can be. It is very important to me that my diet supports all my nutritional needs, and so my recipes focus on finding ways to this whilst also tasting scrumptious!

What I love the most about cooking is the community aspect of it. The joy and comfort of gathering and sharing – how it brings everyone together. My regular recipes and posts are to do just this! I will be sharing my favourite tasty and healthy vegan meals and treats with you. And I hope that you will enjoy looking after yourself by eating them, and of course sharing them with your own tribe, large or small. 

Wishing you lots of love, health and happiness, Mia xx

GREEN SMOOTHIES – WHY ARE THEY SO GOOD? 

At this time of year, for me, it is all things green! I just love everything natural that has burst into life over the preceding months! This tropical fruit infused green breakfast / snack / ‘something in-between’ is everything you need… 

It is so easy and takes no time to make. It is wonderfully nutritious and packed full of fibre, protein and healthy fats to keep you full. And, best of all, it tastes absolutely marvellous. 

I’m currently experimenting with my herb garden and a few medicinal plants. On that journey I try to incorporate fresh herbs into most of my meals, smoothies being one of them. By throwing a stalk of something herby that seems suitable into the blender, you can easily hype up the nutritional value and herbal balance.

Whatever your garden offers can work wonders. In this recipe I used fresh Pineapple Mint. Alternatively a few leaves of Basil or Parsley go really well with the other ingredients and bring out a beautiful soulful earthy flavour. 

You just won’t be able to help feeling well-nourished and refreshed with every sip of this beautiful green smoothie!

This smoothie is packed with some pretty amazing things. Here’s why I love them:

GREENS

They offer a wonderfully cleansing action inside your body, and help enrich your blood because of their good chlorophyll and iron content.

Spinach is also said to cleanse out the toxins that can be responsible for skins conditions, redness and inflammation. 

Spinach is also brilliant for your digestion. According to Chinese dietary theory, spinach has a ‘sliding nature’, which facilitates internal body movements. Therefore it makes it a treatment for constipation and urinary difficulty. 

Spirulina is one of life’s wonderful superfoods, so if you can include this optional extra nutrient boosting ingredient, then brilliant! It is a type of blue-green algae that grows in either salt of fresh water. 

Used since the time of the Aztecs, it is now readily available in powder form and just a single heaped teaspoon of this nutrient packed tiny algae can provide as much as:

4 grams protein, Vitamin B1 (11% NRV), Vitamin B2 (15% NRV), Vitamin B3 (4% NRV), Copper (21% NRV), Iron (11%NRV), as well as decent amounts of magnesium, potassium and manganese. WOW!  

Added to that, these nutrients are easy to absorb and digest due to the fact that much of it’s protein is pre-digested by the algae. The blue pigment phycocyanin also helps draw together amino acids for neurotransmitter formation, which increases mental capacity. 

Do you love this recipe? Did you find it this blog helpful? Add this Pin to your board on Pinterest now so you never struggle to find it

FRUITS

It is well known that fruits really benefit your body in terms of staying well hydrated (perfect in the warmer months!). As well as this, they are wonderful for cooling and reducing temperatures if you are doing lots of physical activity in the warmer weather.

The humble banana is a fantastic natural detoxifiers, containing good levels of protein and fibre. Of course, they are best known for their brilliant potassium content. 

Potassium is essential when it comes to helping your muscles contract and your nerve cells to respond. It helps your heart beating regularly and can be said to reduce the effect of sodium (salt) on blood pressure.  

Check for ripeness with smell - if there’s a sweet lovely smell and black spots on bananas you’ve got a winner. Be aware, under ripe fruit can be sometimes be acidic (like a pineapple) or quite hard to digest (therefore, doing the exact opposite to its initial purpose of enhancing digestion).

GINGER

Oh, my favourite! Last but no means least when it comes to talking about the favourite parts of this particular green smoothie! 

It serves to naturally add that extra ‘zing’ when it comes to flavour. However, it is also an amazing little root in itself, bringing stomach cleansing goodness and a lovely boost to your overall immunity levels and wellness.

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION 

• Peel and slice the bananas
• Pop the in the freezer for at least 2hrs or overnight. NOTE - you can also batch freeze them in portions, so you can just take them out of the freezer as needed. They are great for all smoothies that need that little bit of extra creaminess!
• Simply blend orange juice, spinach, ginger and pineapple first.
• Once smooth add all of the other ingredients and continue blending until they are all nice and creamy – yum!
• Pour into your drinking vessel of choice, and ‘voila’! You can garnish as you like, adding fruit, seeds of decorations to your own taste.

ENJOY! 

My top tip… If you want something a bit heartier, you can skip adding most of the liquids, so that it’s thicker and have it in a bowl. Which you can then top with lots of granola and coconut shavings.

If you love this, then you will love my other Soulful Vegan Recipes from around the world… Just click for my Beautiful Buddha Bowl, Perfect Vegan Cacao Pancakes or my Delicious Vegan Dahl.

Until next time, sending lots of love, health and wellness to you. Mia xx