Banana-Mango Smoothie

Get your week off to a good start with this energizing smoothie. Adding a tablespoon of dry soy powder adds extra vitamins and calcium, but you can easily make the smoothie without it if you have none on hand. If you don't have time to freeze the mango for 1 hour in the morning, pop into the freezer in an airtight container the night before, but in that case, let stand for 15 minutes to soften slightly before adding to the blender.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup peeled and cubed ripe mango
• 3/4 cup sliced ripe banana
• 2/3 cup plain non-dairy milk
• 1 tablespoon dry soy milk powder
• 1 teaspoon agave nectar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Arrange the mango cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze for 1 hour, until firm.

2. Transfer the frozen mango to a blender, along with all the remaining ingredients.  Process until smooth.

The smoothie alone makes an excellent breakfast if you're a light eater in the morning. For a heartier start to the day, try serving with a vegan muffin from Everyday Gourmet vegan bakery. I adore their berries-and-creme flavor.

Nutrition Info:
2 servings (1 cup), Calories 160

Tasting Notes:
So naturally sweet from the ripe mango, you'll never believe there's only one teaspoon of agave in here. In fact, I want to go back and dub this a Banana Pudding Smoothie, because it was like drinking a rich and creamy dessert - delicious! It's the perfect texture (not too thick, not too thin) and quite filling. This drink will definitely jump start your day.

Rating:
4

Update:
Have fun playing around with this basic recipe, by varying the fruit. I had a bag of frozen mixed berries, so I used that in place of the mango, keeping the rest of the recipe the same.

Although I preferred the mango version, this one came together even faster, and was just as thick and fruity.

Yum.