PEAR AND WATERCRESS SMOOTHIE
Delicious, velvety-smooth & nutrient-rich; it’s hard not to be tempted by its emerald-green colour!
Servings
2
Ready in
10 min
Good for
Breakfast
Inroduction
About this Recipe
Watercress is an astonishing leafy green with the highest levels of antioxidants of all brassicas which support essential detox happening in our bodies every day. It’s also a rich source of Vitamin C which makes sure we can absorb its iron. Did you know that the natural gut-healthy sugar in milk, lactose, is partly fermented by our gut bacteria? If you’re lactose intolerant, try using milk kefir instead as its lactose is pre-digested. Read more about the wonders of British watercress here.
Ingredients
-
100g Watercress
-
2 ripe pears, skin on (or 3 canned pear halves without juice)
-
50 – 60g frozen peas
-
20g walnuts
-
3 inch piece of cucumber (skin on)
-
1 tbsp chopped dates or 2 tbsps of skimmed milk powder
- A splash of Whole milk and some extra pear juice from the tin depending on taste or add in . If you’re lactose intolerant opt for naturally sweet oat milk:)
Makes 2 x 250 ml smoothies!
Step by Step Instructions
Remember to use the watercress stalks too!
Step 1
Wash the watercress and cut the cucumber into chunks.
Step 2
Blitz all the ingredients together (don’t add the milk at this stage) until smooth
Step 3
Adjust the consistency and taste with whole milk or oat drink.
Enjoy straight away to benefit from the most nutrients (Vitamin C quickly denatures) and vibrant colour!
Variations:
This recipe is a great smoothie for boosting iron levels!
For an extra gut-healthy option – try adding 2 tsps liquid inulin (chicory root fibre) to sweeten, instead of the dates. 100% fibre and fermented by our gut microbes! You can find it here
Tips for great smoothies:
Smoothies can be a great way of getting more fruit and veg in the diet and therefore benefiting from more fibre and all the antioxidants too. Using plenty of delicious veg options prevents them being very high in natural sugars from too much fruit.
Nutrition
Using whole milk adds an array of fabulous nutrients – calcium, high quality protein, Vit A for immunity and Iodine for growth and healthy brain development (often low in our diets) Add to that the Iron, Vitamin C and polyphenol antioxidants from the watercress (and plenty of fibre to nurture gut bacteria) this is one healthy smoothie!
Keen on running/ cycling? This a great recovery drink!
Watercress in Sport Performance? Click here
Support British Food Producers!
The Watercress company in Hampshire supply many of our supermarkets. Their growing methods use no fertilizers or pesticides & are protective of biodiversity. They look after our bees too!
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