Melon Banana Smoothie

The first day I joined Equinox, my new gym, I treated myself to a post-workout smoothie in their cafe. I was drawn in by the intriguing name – Brainiac – and two of the ingredients: melon and banana. I love melon but find it isn’t very common as a smoothie ingredient so I was curious of what kind of smoothie it would yield. As you can probably tell by my attempt to recreate it, it was delicious. It tasted fresh, clean and flavorful, just like the fruit itself. I didn’t have all the ingredients in the original on hand so this is an approximation, but I find it tastes really good. The flavors are well balanced and provide a nice sweetness without being cloying. I like to juice the melon in my juicer to eliminate chunks and seeds but you could just as easily throw in melon pieces to create this smoothie or puree it first in blender or food processor and use that instead. Making the juice and freezing it in cubes, however, is a great way to get the body of a frozen smoothie without the watered down flavor of ice.

The one challenge I have when making smoothies is they seem to go down as quickly as they were made. Because of this, I like to drink them out of something special that encourages sipping. Sometimes it’s a wine glass or a mug, but this morning I opted for one of my small cherry blossom glasses that I picked up in Tokyo. The glass only holds about 1/2 a cup so it forces me to slow down and also allows for refills.