Creamy Chai Tai Smoothie

Finally, the unbelievably lively celebrity cookbook author, Tess Masters, has bottled her energy and recipe prowess into a gorgeous new app: The Blender Girl Smoothies. And she was kind enough to let us have a sample taste with the Chai Tai Smoothie recipe below (actually, there are five more sample recipes, too – read on!).

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.

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 Chai Tai Smoothie recipe below 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. She is also quite active on Twitter, so I would be sure to follow here there: @theblendergirl.

SIX Sample Recipes from The Blender Girl Smoothies app

Pomegranate Slam It! Smoothie
Grapefruit Fennel Fix Smoothie
Chai Tai Smoothie (recipe below!)
Rosemary Melonade Smoothie
Mystical Mango Smoothie
Green Mojito Smoothie

Special Diet Notes: Chai Tai 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.

I’ve submitted this chai tai smoothie recipe to the Gluten-Free Wednesdays round-up event.

Chai Tai Smoothie

 

Print

Prep time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

 

If the world were ending, I’d make this decadent treat my finale. The incredible creaminess and blend of warm spices will make you weak in the knees. The boosters add an injection of protein and omega-3s—so you may feel a tad less cheeky as you head to heaven. Recipe from The Blender Girl Smoothies app © Tess Masters, copyright (c) 2014. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Random House LLC.

Author: Tess Masters

Serves: 2 servings

Ingredients

• 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 of ground cloves
• Pinch of natural salt (optional, to bring out flavors)
• 2 medium frozen sliced bananas
• 1 cup (125g) ice cubes (optional)

Instructions

1. Throw all of the ingredients into your blender and puree on high for 30 to 60 seconds, until smooth and creamy.

Notes

Optional Boosters
1 tablespoon blanched raw almonds, soaked
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 tablespoon flaxseed oil

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