Smooth talking with Green Kitchen Stories

***Rachel Khoo would like to thank all the inspiring people who helped make the Khoollect studio a hive of creativity. Although the Khoollect studio’s doors have now closed, you can keep up with Rachel’s newest adventures on RachelKhoo.com and on Rachel’s Instagram and Facebook pages – and, continue to enjoy the Khoollect website’s stories and recipes, which will remain available.***

It’s finally summer here in London; and, although we might not see the sun shining every day, the thought of time spent wearing less layers has some of us thinking about healthy adjustments we could make to our eating habits. But alas, some days, getting all those servings of fruit and veg in can be a real challenge. Perhaps the solution is simple: drink your greens (or purples, oranges, reds, or even blues).

A pair who advocate nourishing the bod with liquefied ingredients are David and Luise of Green Kitchen Stories. The duo has just released its new book, to add to a growing collection, Green Kitchen Smoothies — a tome set to change-up your blending routine. We talked to David to find out what we can expect from this recipe collection and got tips for the ultimate smoothie:

Congratulations on your third book! Can you tell us a little about what readers can expect to find inside the pages of Green Kitchen Smoothies?

The idea behind the book is to show that there is more behind a smoothie than the one or two recipes that most people have on their repertoire. We have lots of quick and simple smoothie recipes in the book, some are sweeter and some also have vegetables in them. We also have a chapter in the book where we are showing how to create smoothies that are a little extra special. We serve them in bowls with lots of granola and fresh fruit on top; layer them in high glasses together with chia pudding, yoghurt or nut butter, or pour them over mashed fresh berries to create beautiful swirls of colour. This way we get a variation in texture, flavour and it often also makes a more substantial meal. Not to mention, they all look show-stopping!

Apart from the smoothies, we have also included our favourite nut milks, juices, smoothie desserts and granola, along with lots of tips on how to improvise your own blends at home.

The book is so colourful and bright; does this reflect the way you and your family eat every day?

I guess it does. Since our food is based around vegetables and fruit, we usually get very colourful plates. Apart from all the smoothies we make, many of our favourite dinner recipes are also very colourful. We often even add spinach or beetroot to pancakes and bread to make them more colourful and also nutritious. With that said, we do eat dark food as well. Especially during winters when we tend to make lots of soups, stews and curries.

Green Kitchen Stories

Can you name your favourite smoothie (or other) recipes from the new book?

There is a mango and turmeric smoothie with goji berries in the book that has a very unique flavour. It’s really delicious! Another favourite is the Nuts & Blues Smoothie – a wonderfully nut and cacao-based smoothie that is poured over frozen wild blueberries. It looks so beautiful when the blueberries float around in the smoothie, tainting it with blue streaks of colour.

One of Luise’s favourite’s is the Superberry & Fennel Smoothie, which is quite fresh. The flavour of the fennel works really well with the berries.

During all your smoothie recipe testing, have you come up with any terrible combinations you won’t try again (or that didn’t make the cut)?

Yes definitely! We tried a lot of very green smoothies without any fruit or sweetener added to them, in an attempt to create a Liquid Salad recipe. But we gave up on that one as it simply never tasted good enough. I still like that idea though.

What are your must-do tips for preparing smoothies at home?

  • Freezing the fruit and vegetables always creates creamier results.
  • Smoothies are also always more delicious when served cold so freezing the fruit helps on that part as well.
  • The creamiest of all fruits are avocados and bananas so we often make sure to include either of them in our smoothies.
  • Consider the colours of the ingredients you are mixing. Focus on using similar colours or colours that blend well together.
  • Too much spinach in a red or blue smoothie often turn out brown, which isn’t very fun to look at or drink.
  • Another trick is to not blend all ingredients in the smoothie. Mash berries or fruit in the bottom of the glass and then pour over the smoothie. This way the mashed fruit will add another colour to the smoothie and it also makes it more interesting to drink as the flavour changes as you work your way through the drink.

What do you think people will love most about the new book?

Hopefully they will find the photos so luscious looking that they simply can’t resist pulling out their blender and trying the recipes. We have really put a lot of effort into creating a beautiful book as we think most smoothie books are quite boring looking. The chapter with Showstopping Smoothies is perhaps what is most unique about the book and I hope people will give them a go.

 

What are your favourite smoothie combos?

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WRITTEN BY:
Sonya Gellert

Sonya Gellert is a contributing writer and associate editor for Khoollect. She lives in Sydney....

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Want more?

Try this recipe from the new book, check out the blog and follow Green Kitchen Stories on Instagram.

Green Kitchen Smoothies: Healthy and colourful smoothies for every day by David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl (Hardie Grant, £15.00)