There is a small tale that comes with the Banana Cherry Smoothie recipe and how it came about. This simple drink while maybe not the first choice of fruit flavours to mix together will satisfy any thirst in the warm weather.

 

 

While I was on a ship last summer we made a stop off in Souda Bay in Greece and a friend and I decided to head ashore to explore the local culinary delights. We stopped off in a small cafe while exploring to grab something to help us beat the heat, Souda Bay is jam packed full of little fresh fruit juice bars.

My friend Stacy ordered a fresh cherry juice and it sounded amazing, but I really wanted something with banana in it. Hey I am a banana-a-holic! The owner said she was happy to add banana to any juice I wanted so I decided to follow in Stacy’s footsteps and I too ordered a cherry juice but with banana added to it.

 

 

As it arrived at my table I couldn’t wait to dig in, it was a lovely dark red colour and it looked so refreshing. It was amazing! It was naturally sweet and the cherry flavour shone through with sweet undertones of bananas. The banana also helped thicken it up a little which I like as it was more satisfying than just a plain juice.

The only downside, for me was, it wasn’t very cold. I like my drinks to be cold especially fruity ones. But that got me to thinking, my smoothie best friend is the humble frozen banana. I keep a constant supply of them in my freezer so whenever the mood takes me I can grab my fruit and make a lovely cold and creamy smoothie in just a few minutes.

When I paid off my ship cherries were not in season! I mean come on what is a girl supposed to do? Oh yeah thats right wait for cherry season to start. As soon as I started seeing those lovely dark red cherries in the shop I piled them into my basket and ran home.

With a bit of experimenting with quantities I have it down to a science now. The perfect thirst quenching smoothie. I consider this more of a smoothie than a juice drink, because when frozen bananas are blended up is almost like an ice cream and it really adds a rich creamy texture to your drinks. And the best part is it’s healthy! Not a drop of cream or ice cream in sight.

 

 

Another great reason to use frozen bananas is, it cools your drink right down. You could always blend in some ice but this may water  your drink down so I recommend frozen bananas every time. Or other frozen fruit in your smoothies if you are not a banana fan.

A quick word on frozen banana’s if you have not come across this idea before. I find the best banana’s to use are the ones with just a few black spots on them. Not super ripe but just on the turn, peel them then chop them up into medium sized chunks and place them in a small freezer bag and pop them in the freezer. Try laying the bag down flat till frozen so it makes the frozen banana chunks easier to handle when you come to use them.

 

 

So back to this drink, I have used almond milk because I just love its mild sweet nutty flavour in smoothies, but any milk can be used. Cows is perfectly fine to use. To make this even more of a powerhouse of goodness I also added in some natural Greek yogurt, it’s naturally rich in protein and low in fat. It’s rich and creamy tasting so what more can a girl want?

Only 4 ingredients needed to make this easy simple to put together drink that makes a great breakfast on-the-go; or to be enjoyed while relaxing in the sun.