VGYO (explanation below) smoothies represent Violet, Green, Yellow and Orange colored healthy smoothies…

The truth: I was hoping to make VIBGYOR smoothies and ended up with VGYO. The idea of making VIBGYOR smoothies had been tuning in my mind for a while. This was not an effect of seeing a rainbow. The last time I had encountered a rainbow was during my camping trip at Starved rock, IL in the summer of 2008. Since then, I haven’t seen one. Is it because it’s banned in my place? or does this mean that I don’t look at the sky these days?

When I decided to go with this VIBGYOR idea, I never thought that I would end up making VGYO smoothies instead. My whole idea was to make healthy fruit smoothies. However, while attempting to make these, I found that it was nearly hard to achieve indigo and blue colored smoothies with the fresh fruits. I tried a few of the blue and close to blue colored fruits like blueberries, purple grapes and plums, when they were blended I didn’t get a blue color, but got more of a violet color. Hence, I dropped the indigo and blue colored smoothies. Now, you must be thinking what happened to the red color. I knew it was quite easy to make red colored fruit  smoothies with watermelon or strawberries. Without much reasons, I skipped this too.

If I had added color I could have gotten the blue and indigo color. My goal wasn’t to make artificial colored smoothies, but to make healthy and refreshing smoothies.

VGYO Smoothies: for Violet color: Pomegranate; for Green color: Kiwi and Apple; for Yellow: Mango Lassi; for Orange: Cantaloupe.

Yes, I do have a favorite among these smoothies, hands down my favorite smoothie is Mango Lassi. I doubt if there is any Indian restaurant without this. Believe me, making this in your own kitchen is easy and fast.

Fruits Used:

V for Violet colored Pomegranate Smoothie

Ingredients:

• Pomegranate seeds- seeds from half of the pomegranate

• Milk- 1 1/2 cups
• Sugar- 3tbsp or as required

Preparation:

• In a blender, combine all the above ingredients.
• Strain the milkshake to discard the seeds.
• Serve the drink by topping with some pomegranate seeds.

G for Green colored Kiwi and Apple Smoothie

Ingredients:

• Kiwi, ripe- 2

• Apple, cored, seeds removed and cut in wedges-2
• Sugar- 3 tbsp

Preparation:

• Place these ingredients in a blender and puree to a smoothie constituency which will be thick and fibre rich.
• You could also make this in a power juicer to remove the fibre and for just the juice.

Y for Yellow colored Mango Lassi (My Favorite)

Ingredients:

• Fresh ripe Mango or canned mango pulp- 1 ripe mango  diced or 1/2 cup canned mango pulp
• Yogurt- 1/4 cup
• Milk- 1/2 milk
• Sugar- to taste, if you are using sweetened mango pulp, avoid adding sugar. Taste the lassi and add accordingly.

Preparation:

• Put the above mentioned ingredients into a blender.
• Blend it until smooth.
• Pour into individual glasses and enjoy.

O for Orange colored Cantaloupe Smoothie

Ingredients:

• Cantaloupe, rind removed, seeded and cubed- 4 cups
• Lemon juice (optional)- 1 tbsp
• Sugar- according to your needs

Preparation:

• Put the cubed cantaloupes, lemon juice if using and sugar if needed into a blender.
• Blend until smooth and you will get thick and fibre rich smoothie.
• You could make this in a power juicer as well, to discard the fibre and for getting just the juice.

Tips:

Difference between Blender and Juicer:

Blenders do not separate the juice from the fibre, while Juicers do so.