Sprouted Nuts
For this recipe you will need sprouted nuts. The reason you should soak “sprout” nuts before you eat them is not only to make them easier to blend up in your smoothie, but soaking massively increases the digestive qualities and nutrient content of nuts. How? Simply place a handful of nuts in water for a couple of hours or overnight. During the soaking process their complex protein chains are broken down into separate amino acids, which will make the protein easier to digest and assimilate. Discard the soaking water and rinse them very well before eating them.
Some of my favorite nuts to soak and add to my smoothies are almonds, brazil nuts, macadamia nuts and cashews. Make sure you buy the nuts raw.
Dark Leafy Greens
Each and every dark green leaf is worth adding to your smoothie. The are super nutrient-dense and in case you didn’t know most of green leafy veggies are packed with protein too. Perhaps that’s why some of the largest and strongest animals on earth are vegetarian. Good protein boost are kale and spinach, which will also provide you with tons of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.
Hemp Seeds
I should be adding hemp seeds more often into my smoothies. Hemp seeds are remarkable, they are complete (containing all 20 amino acids, including the 9 essential ones), something that is not so easy to find on a plant-based food diet. After a work out hemp seeds are a good source of branch-chained amino acids, which is needed for repair and growth of lean body tissue. Two tablespoons of hemp seeds contain approximately seven grams of protein. They also make this smoothie super creamy!
Bee Pollen
Bee products are the only animal products I allow in my plant based diet (update 2016: I also exclude bee pollen from my diet). Because they are so extremely healing and healthy. So are bee pollen loaded with protein, actually it is the richest animal source of protein trumping beef, eggs and dairy of equal weight. Bee pollen is 40% protein and contains free amino acids. In addition, bee pollen are loaded with enzymes to aid digestion, vitamins, (trace) minerals, and phytonutrients.
Nut or Seed Butter
I often blend a nut- or seed butter with water to start off my smoothie, which makes an easy cheat version nut milk.
Pear Basil Fall Smoothie
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 5 mins
- Yield: 1 1x
- Category: smoothie, plantbased, vegan, healthy, snack, breakfast
- Cuisine: vegan, plantbased, healthy
Description
A delicious fall smoothie with pears, basil and some superfoods to boost your energy and immune system.
Ingredients
- 2 ripe pears
- 1 frozen banana
- 5–7 large basil leaves
- 1 tablespoon tahini, almond butter, or other nut butter
- 1/2 teaspoon. bee pollen
- 2 Tbsp. hemp seeds
- 1 handful of greens (spinach and kale are good choices)
- a tablespoon soaked nuts ( I used almonds)
- water or milk of choice to thin, as needed
Instructions
Add all ingredients to a blender and blend on high until smooth and creamy. Enjoy!
photos by the green creator (c) (copyright)
