Finally, the unbelievably lively celebrity cookbook author, Tess Masters, has bottled her energy and recipe prowess into a gorgeous app, The Blender Girl Smoothies. And she was kind enough to let us have a sample taste with the vegan chai smoothie recipe below. It’s nutritious, plant-based, and of course dairy-free, but also positively delicious.
Photo by Erin Kunkel from The Blender Girl Smoothies app © Tess Masters, copyright (c) 2014. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Random House LLC.
Vegan Chai Smoothie that’s Deliciously Plant-Based and Dairy-Free
The Blender Girl Smoothies app is available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, and it features an interactive “I Feel, I Need, I Crave” function to find your perfect blend from among 100 healthy, dairy-free smoothie recipes.
The searches on The Blender Girl Smoothies app are actually quite cool and advanced. You can do a basic search on ingredient, dietary preferences, or recipe type, or you can search on the aforementioned what you feel (happy, sluggish, wired), need (a detox, to lose weight, to chill out), and crave (light and fruity, clean and green, an exotic ride) to today’s perfect smoothie.
For example, the vegan chai smoothie recipe below (also known as the Chai Tai Smoothie) might appear if you are craving an exotic ride, the Hangover Helper if you’re feeling sluggish, or the Kidney Cleanser if you’re in need of a real detox.
Once you pick a blend, a recipe summary lists the health benefits of the smoothie, special icons flag specific needs (weight loss, anti-inflammatory, high-protein, alkaline, etc.), and nutritional info provides calories, fat, sodium, carbs, fiber, sugar, protein, calcium, and iron levels. Each recipe also includes three additional ingredients that can be added to boost flavor complexity, nutrition, or both.
And, in case you didn’t notice, The Blender Girl Smoothies app has stunning full-color photography. Along with images of every single smoothie recipe, the app includes photos of frequently used and recommended ingredients in the glossary.
The comprehensive glossary isn’t just pretty pictures either. Expanded information on the nutritional benefits of the recipes, including tips on selecting, storing, and incorporating ingredients, help you create your own delicious blends.
You’ve picked a recipe, are excited about the ingredients, but wait … your produce keeper is near empty! Fortunately, you can quickly and easily create simple shopping lists right from the recipes in the app (editing and adding to them as you see fit), and then email the list to yourself or a friend.
Other features of The Blender Girl Smoothies app include: blender recommendations from Tess (she’s tried them all!), a favorites function (I’m sure you’ll be marking this Chai Tai smoothie recipe!), a notes section, share-a-smoothie capability (via email or social media), customized user settings (for dietary preferences, alerts, and Imperial / metric measurements), FAQs, and practical tips.
And if you haven’t met Tess yet, well, you should. Tess Masters is an Australian-born cook, writer, actor, presenter, voiceover artist, and author of The Blender Girl Cookbook. She shares her enthusiasm for healthy living on theblendergirl.com.
Special Diet Notes: Vegan Chai Smoothie
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, grain-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan / plant-based, and vegetarian. For a tree nut-free chai tai smoothie, use your favorite allergy-friendly seed or grain milk alternative rather than almond milk.
- 1 cup (240ml) unsweetened almond milk or other nut, grain, or seed milk (strained if homemade)
- 1 cup (240ml) coconut water
- ¼ cup (43g) chopped pitted dates (soaked, if using a conventional blender)
- 1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cardamom
- Pinch ground cloves
- Pinch sea salt (optional, to bring out flavors)
- 2 medium frozen sliced bananas
- 1 cup (125g) ice cubes (optional)
- Throw all of the ingredients into your blender and puree on high for 30 to 60 seconds, until smooth and creamy.
1 tablespoon blanched raw almonds, soaked
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 tablespoon flaxseed oil
7 Comments
This drink looks so refreshing, pinned!
That sounds like just what I need for breakfast in the morning!
Oh, I just had Chai and it’s one of my favorite drinks. This smoothie looks refreshingly satisfying. Pinned.
What a fun app! We make a similar (but non-vegan) version of this smoothie – and I can’t wait to try your version!
This looks fantastic, never thought about of making a chai smoothie! I’ll have to try this!
What a fantastic app!! I love it’s flexibility to come up with the perfect smoothie.
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