The sun has arrived! We had a few days of real gloom and doom here in LA. I pulled out my Ugg boots and dove into my emergency freezer chili stash. Yes, I keep chili in my freezer year-round. And yes, anything below 65° is an emergency. Don’t even get me started on my heated blanket.
But alas! It finally feels like Summer and I finally feel like having normal Summer food. Well, normal for me. Not about to chase down the ice cream truck for a choco taco. How are those still legal anyways? They have to be violating at least 14 health codes and ignoring sexual harassment statutes. Both the ice cream truck and the choco taco. Gross.
Anyways, I’ve been craving a smoothie for a while now, to the point where my mouth was watering every time I’d walk by a Jamba Juice. Pretty inconvenient considering one of the coffee shops I frequent is literally next door to a Jamba Juice. I’m sure the cute barista is not impressed when I walk in foaming at the mouth. Nor when I stink up the place with my liver meatloaf lunch. I should really start eating outside. Oh well.
Back to the smoothie. My go-to smoothie at Jamba Juice was always the Mango-A-Go-Go. Mangoes make THE BEST smoothies. Or so I thought. It’s actually the added sherbet that makes this smoothie so damn good. But for real, WTF. I used to get that smoothie for breakfast. Sherbet for breakfast. No wonder I needed so much coffee in college. Anyways, mangoes are definitely not local to Los Angeles and in my efforts to eat primarily Farmer’s Market foods, I had to find a substitute. So I asked myself, what fruits are in season right now? Then I looked at my June Farmer’s Market Report (shameless plug, check it out) and found my answer. Peaches. Peaches are kind of like mangoes, right? They’re close enough. But it needed something else. And to be completely honest, the blueberries were a shot in the dark (as is most of my cooking). This recipe was pre-farmer’s market shopping and I didn’t have much in my fridge. It was between blueberries and chicken thighs. You’re welcome.
But just because I didn’t add chicken thighs, doesn’t mean I didn’t add protein! I used my absolute favorite collagen pepties from Vital Proteins! Their collagen is from 100% grass fed cows and provides a complete amino acid profile. What does that mean? It means you should put it in your body. It’s really an amazing product. And I’m not one to promote the use of processed anything, so you know it must be good. Don’t worry, it’s truly unflavored. It won’t taste like you’ve added cow skin to your smoothie, but you have. And that’s awesome. If it weirds you out, go back to Jamba Juice and have some sherbet for breakfast. JK, don’t do that.
Note: This recipe takes a little bit of planning if you tend to buy your produce fresh. Just slice and freeze the day or night before and you’re good to go! If you already purchase everything frozen, then you’re a step ahead.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 frozen white peach
- 1/3 cup frozen blueberries
- 1 cup frozen cauliflower
- 1 cup homemade coconut milk
- 2 scoops collagen peptides
- 1 teaspoon raw honey
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Put the frozen peach slices, blueberries, and cauliflower into the blender. Turn on high for about a minute. This should be very thick and not smoothie like at all, don’t worry.
- Slowly add the coconut milk, collagen peptides, and honey until you’ve reached your desired consistency. I like my smoothies thick, so I tend to use less coconut milk. You do you.
- Serve fresh and enjoy!