Deep Purple Blueberry Smoothie With Black Quinoa

By Martha Rose Shulman

Deep Purple Blueberry Smoothie With Black Quinoa
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
5 to 10 minutes
Rating
4(145)
Comments
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My idea for this week’s Recipes for Health was to match grains and fruit by color and make nourishing smoothies. For this one I could have also used any of the black or purple rices on the market, such as Alter Eco’s purple jasmine rice, Lotus Food’s Forbidden Rice or Lundberg Black Japonica. I happened to have a full bag of black quinoa in the pantry, so that’s what I went for and it worked beautifully. You can also use fresh blueberries for this, but when they are not in season, frozen will do fine and will eliminate the need for ice cubes.

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Ingredients

Yield:1 generous serving or 2 small servings
  • ⅓cup cooked black quinoa or ¼ cup cooked black rice
  • 1cup frozen organic blueberries or fresh blueberries (about 4½ ounces)
  • ½large or 1 small ripe banana
  • 1teaspoon pomegranate molasses
  • ¾cup blood orange juice or regular orange juice
  • A few drops to 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice, to taste
  • 2ice cubes if using fresh blueberries
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (1 servings)

298 calories; 2 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 69 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams dietary fiber; 41 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 11 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Place all of the ingredients in the jar of a blender and blend at high speed until smooth. Serve right away.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
145 user ratings
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Comments

April

This is a REALLY good smoothie! I used tri-color quinoa, because that what I have, and sliced some ginger (about an inch, maybe less), cut across the fibers, so no weird ginger hairs, rather than the p. molasses, and dropped in a whole peeled mandarin, as blood oranges are now out of season. So, yes, a few subs in this time of making do with whatever is on the grocery shelves, and darn good too!

Yousry Nasrallah

Turkish, Persian,
Armenian or any Middle-Eastern grocer will have it in store

blisssu

I love this recipe and have taken to cutting up a whole orange and substituting it for the orange juice. Blood oranges weren't available in the summer when I first made the smoothie, so I've used commercial, "fresh squeezed" juice and have switched to a medium-sized navel orange with a little extra juice (or water?) to make the mix more blendable.

Ben Stone

Do not make with black rice—the texture is globby and the aftertaste ruins the fruitiness. Overall, unpleasant smoothie.

carla V

I agree with Yousry - pomegranate molasses can be found at any middle eastern grocery. They are also a great place to buy top quality nuts, rose water, and large bunches of fresh or frozen herbs! Oh, and huge containers of plain yoghurt as well. :)

ZGBNM

I happened to have lotus foods forbidden rice (black) in my pantry and am delighted to have a use for it. Same for my pomegranate molasses. And assomeone who's lactose intolerant, this was a very filling and very delicious smoothie. Better than dairy (and their substitutes). My blender is basic and the grains of rice here add a very, very agreeable chewiness. My banana was frozen, instead of the blueberries, so no need to add ice to the OJ!-Love the ingenuity.

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