Sugar-Free Gluten-Free Blueberry Yogurt Cashew Smoothie

 

I have been having the chocolate smoothie almost the whole week. There is no reason not to make myself a new smoothie today since it's Saturday! Yay!!

There are lots of blueberry yogurt smoothie recipes around. Of course! everybody knows yogurt goes really well with berries: strawberry, blueberry, raspberry... you name it. But there is one problem with it: both (natural, plain) yogurt and berries are sour. When you put them together, especially without adding sugar (or honey), you can imagine it will taste REALLY sour. So, besides blueberry, I put a banana as well. I don't normally put 2 fruits together because there can be too much sugar, even if it's from fruits. But, 1.  it's still better than putting refined sugar and, 2.  it's SATURDAY!  :)

My formula for healthy smoothies goes like this 

a) protein:  this time it's from yogurt  

b) anti-oxidant: blueberry!

c) healthy fats: cashew

d) as much as possible, minimize sugar 

e) limit the number of ingredients to not more than 5, because there is no point tossing everything in and tastes like nothing

I picked cashew for 2 reasons  1.  it's creamy with a natural sweetness, which can help balance out the sourness of yogurt and blueberry and,  2. it matches the colour of the other ingredients... yes I am serious, I am obsessed with colours ... : P

One important point to note is, you will have to get unsalted cashew that is not roasted, but steamed. And make sure you don't get raw, unprocessed cashew, it is TOXIC! I soaked the cashew in water overnight to make it softer and easier to blend.  

I sprinkle chia seed instead of flax seed on top to finish because, again, for the colour. I want it to look pastel blue/ lilac. The result is creamy, sweet and sour, just like the frozen yogurt you get in town but of course 10 times healthier.

You can add ice cubes to this smoothie too and I guess it will taste even more like frozen yogurt. Yum Yum Yum...

  Ingredients :  

1 medium sized banana

1 cup of blueberry (or other berries like raspberry and strawberry)

A cup of plain, unsweetened yogurt

A handful of cashew nuts, soaked in water overnight

Around 100 ml of soy milk (milk, almond milk... or anything you like. Ice cubes are optional)

  Nutritional Facts :  

Protein     15 g

Fat           11 g
Carb         51 g
Sugar       34 g * 
Calories   356 kcal

*half of this actually comes from lactose, which naturally exists in plain yogurt. It has no fructose by composition and has only half the GI of glucose. Unless you're lactose intolerant, I think it's alright to have lactose in your diets, especially from yogurt.