Tropical Tango Smoothie

This has been an odd week, to say the least. First the earthquake on Tuesday, then this hurricane/tropical storm situation.  I feel lucky and grateful – we have power, and I am warm and cozy – and have had a nice day, with some catching up on my life and some work as well.  I am sad I had to cancel on an early evening get together with a friend, but the forecast made it seem unwise.

I also finally broke into my HLS swag bag – I gave away a lot of my swag to gluten-eating friends (the gold-level sponsor was Quaker Oats) but had plenty of gluten-free swag to enjoy, including some Vega Tropical Tango protein powder. 

I am a huge fan of Vega protein powders – I brought some of the Vanilla Almondilla with me to Philadelphia for HLS, and  Chocolate Shake and Go to Switzerland.  The Vega Shake and Go line is great for travel as they can make a quick shake, or give a chia pudding or overnight oats more distinctive flavors.  I also really like the Vega Health Optimizer in Chai for green smoothies when I am home. 

I wanted to make some dessert-y and a bit treat-like this afternoon as the weather is making me crave all manners of sweets.  So I made a lightly green tropical flavored smoothie which is frothier than my usual green smoothies (which are also, while delicious, far more green). Skipping the ice but using frozen fruit was a nice way to get a cold almost custard-like smoothie.  The smoothie feels appropriate in light of the tropical weather – especially so because when I went for a walk early this morning – when it was still a bit sunny – the air smelled like the ocean and the humidity reminded me of Florida. 

Tropical Tango Smoothie (Gluten-Free, Vegan, Soy-Free) – Serves 1

If you do not have the Vega Tropical Tango protein powder, I recommend using a half scoop of vanilla (or plain) protein powder and adding an extra 1/4 cup of frozen mango (or another tropical fruit, like pineapple). 

• 1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
• Vega Tropical Tango protein powder (I used a 25g pouch, which was about 2 Tablespoons)
• 1/4 cup frozen mango
• 1 banana, cut into chunks, frozen
• 1/2 cup kale or 1 cup spinach

Blend until smooth.

I am submitting this recipe to the following blog events:

Summer Wellness Weekend, hosted by Ricki of Diet, Desserts and Dogs. The concept behind Summer Wellness Weekends is “any good-for-you, whole foods, especially those with antioxidant properties or “functional foods” (ie, offering naturally medicinal or health-promoting qualities–such as garlic, coconut oil, all vegetables, fruits, herbs, etc.).”  Tropical fruits, while replete with natural sugars, are also full of antioxidants, as are kale or spinach.

A blog event hosted by Flip Cookbook called Sugar Free Sunday, which includes sweet and savory dishes made with non-refined sugars.

Seasonal Sunday, hosted by Brittany of Real Sustenance (it is both her birthday and her blog’s birthday today by the way – you should stop by!).  The greens are seasonal, but in light of the weather, I would say anything tropical is pretty seasonal.

Slightly Indulgent Tuesday with Amy of Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free – this smoothie is light and tropical and indulgent.

Gluten-Free Wednesday.

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General Disclosures

Specific Disclosure: I received the packet of Vega Tropical Tango Smoothie free of charge at the Healthy Living Summit, but was in no way influenced into writing this review.