Cranberry Lassi with Coconut Milk, Cumin, Chia and Ginger (Vegan, Gluten-Free)

This delicious, delightful Cranberry Lassi  is the sixth "Christmas Smoothie" in our series of 7 Daily Christmas Smoothies.

A Lassi is an Indian drink generally made with cultured milk, either yogurt or kefir, and flavours from the 5 basic groups: salty, pungent, sour, sweet and bitter.  If you are not vegan/dairy adverse, you could use either of these for the coconut milk/lime juice in following the recipe.  Seeing cumin and cayenne (or chili powder) in a more or less dessert-y type smoothie is a bit of a shock, or was for me.  But the combination, in concert with the bitter cranberries, is just perfect (my husband thinks so).  I used a recipe for cranberry chutney for ideas of workable blends, but you will be happy to recognize that I did not include garlic or an entire chili pepper.

Cumin has been used throughout history in perfume-making, so you can attribute the lovely fragrance partly to that, and partly to the ginger (a wonderful digestion-helper) and other ingredients.  I was left with a very nice after-taste and a warming feeling.  This is not a drink to bolt down, but to savour over a family get-together early in the morning.

Cranberry Lassi 

 This makes about two (2) good-sized Adult servings.
 Put the following in your Blender Carafe:
* 2 C. Coconut Dream (or similar ready-to-drink Coconut Mylk)
* 1+C. Fresh or Frozen Cranberries (Frozen berries act like ice cubes)
* 1 tsp. Chia Seed (ground in Coffee Grinder)
* 1 tsp. Cumin Seed (ground in Coffee Grinder)
* 1 Small Handful Unsweetened Coconut Shreds
* Fresh-squeezed Lime Juice (1/2 Lime)
* 1 tsp. Grated fresh Ginger
* 3 T. Coconut Palm Sugar
* 1 packet Stevia "Sweet Leaf" powder (Optional)
* Pinch of Salt (I use Celtic Sea Salt for the 82 minerals)
* Pinch of Cayenne or Chili pepper
Merry Christmas!  Happy Holidays!

Here are the other 6 Christmas Smoothie Recipes for you to sample!

Cranberry-Apple, Green Grape and Chia Christmas Smoothie

Mandaringo-Ginger Smoothie

Christmas Cake Smoothie

Luscious Eggless Nog Smoothie

Sweet Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

Chocolate-Mint Smoothie

Thickalicious Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Green Smoothie With *Benefits

This morning's smoothie was set up for my husband's jaunt off on his bike for a few miles and back.  It's sunny but cool.  He's just finished a Longevity class from the local ElderCollege and is keen on incorporating the Ayurvedic herbs into his daily diet. This Thickalicious Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Green Smoothie With *Benefits is a mouthful, in more ways than one.  Like my othersmoothies, this contains rolled oats to sustain him from hunger pangs on the trip, chia seed to give him great bursts of energy and perseverence, pineapple, banana, dates and coconut for that smacking good taste (and all those phyto-nutrients), and  ashwagandha and turmeric for the Ayurvedic *benefits: improved immune system, brain power, longevity!

Layer the following in a blender carafe (you might want to do two half-batches if you have a regular blender):

• 2 C. Frozen Pineapple chunks (or Fresh)
• 1 C. Rolled Oats (buy Gluten-Free if you are coeliac or sensitive to wheat / gluten)(Presoak in 1 C.of Water if you have the time)
• 1 Banana in chunks (Frozen is great)
• 6 Pitted Dates (I used Medjool but use what you like / can find)
• 1 T. Chia Seed ground in Coffee Grinder or 2 T. Chia Seed Gel http://techygran.hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Make-Chia-Seed-Gel-and-How-To-Use-It
• 1/4 C. Coconut Shreds
• 1 tsp. Ashwagandha mixed with 3 T.*Coconut Sugar or 1 packet of stevia
• 1 tsp. Turmeric
• Large handful Tender Greens of Choice
• 1 C. Filtered Water, or as much as you wish.  Letting the contents of the Carafe sit for about 15-30 minutes is a good idea for the chia (chia gel) and the oats.. makes digestion easier.

Whirl up and drink right away!  You are going to feel satisfied and won't be given to the usual cravings, probably right up until lunch time!

Thyroid-Happy Berry-Chia-Mint-Parsley-Almond Milk Green Smoothie

 This NON-goitrogenic green smoothie is the fourth This Thyroid-happy smoothie is an adaptation of a great Green Smoothie by Drew Canole of JuiceUp Your Life.  Drew adds in protein powder, I just stick with Chia Gel to provide the protein.  I use blueberries, but you can use raspberries (like Drew does) or any other NON-goitrogenic berries (NOT strawberries, alas).  It is unlike these other Thyroid-Happy smoothie recipes on Smoothie Moves since I use unsweetened Almond Mylk.  I used the pre-made kind, but you could make your own (including high-selenium Brazil Nut Mylk- yum) with just the ingredients, a blender and a sieve.  

Thyroid-happy Berry-Chia-Mint-Parsley-Almond Milk Green Smoothie 

• Small handful fresh Mint leaves, stripped from stems
• Small handful fresh Parsley
• 1/2 - 1 C. Frozen Berries (or fresh berries)-- I used frozen organic blueberries
• 1/2 C. Chia Gel (1/4 C. chia seeds in quart of water, stir, leave for 15 minutes- Go HERE for chia seed gel recipes)
• 1 - 2 C. of unsweetened Almond Milk 

METHOD:
Put all of the above into your high speed blender, or divide in half for a less speedy blender and do in two batches.  Relax and enjoy!