If you like grapefruit and a sweet and sour kick to your green smoothies, this sweet and sour drink will be right up your street.
This smoothie contains dried apricots, and I’m going to explain how you can choose healthier dried apricots that don’t use sulphur dioxides in the drying process.
I was really struggling to make a green thickie with grapefruit in it. Probably partly because I’m not a massive fan of grapefruit.
So when my Dad asked me if I had a recipe for a Green Thickie with grapefruit I was afraid I didn’t have a good one at that time to give him. (I’ve been creating more since).
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So as he already had some grapefruit he went off and created his own green thickie recipe called Dad’s Big Super Sweet and Sour Drink. He said it was lovely and sweet so I couldn’t wait to try it.
His original recipe contained so many cups of dried fruit that would have made the calorie content go through the roof. So I decided to cut down the amount of dried fruit. The result may not be as sweet as the original, but you can always add more sweetener.
It’s definitely a sweet and sour smoothie as there is a strong grapefruit kick to it. So if you like grapefruit you’ll love this green thickie. I found it a very interesting taste and a nice break from all the super sweet green thickies I’d been making lately.
Grapefruit is a great fruit to have on stand by as it stays fresh for a good long time.
Difference between natural apricots and apricots preserved with sulphur dioxide: The natural apricots are brown (left) and the apricots containing sulphites are orange (right).
This smoothie contains dried apricots.
While I was shopping for apricots I was pleased to see ‘Natural Apricots’ available. This means they have been dried without the use of sulphur dioxide which produces sulphites. This is a preservative which stops the apricots turning brown and keeps them a bright orange.
Some people can have bad reactions to sulphites so if you have the choice it’s better to choose the more natural option. The natural apricots are brown and the apricots dried using sulphur dioxide are bright orange. The brown dried apricots also have a much nicer caramel taste to them.
This is a massive smoothie. I kept adding cup after cup of water to it and it was still extremely thick. So the quantity is much bigger but you can always half the recipe to make a more reasonable sized portion as this made a blender full.
Dried apricots are very gelatinous too so if you leave this smoothie in the fridge it will just get thicker and thicker! So feel free to add more liquids as it suits you.
A thickie is certainly the right name for this smoothie.
I also loved the fact that this smoothie contained broccoli and cauliflower which gives you another veg option to put into your smoothies if you run out of leafy greens.
Looking at the ingredients it could also probably make a really nice stir fry (You could make a sweet and sour sauce out of the oats, water and dried fruit), but I’ve not tried that just yet.
I just love receiving recipes from other people. I think it’s great to get inspiration from others as they have ideas for food that you would never have thought of. So I really hope all you grapefruit lovers out there will enjoy my Dad’s first shared green thickie recipe.
This sweet and sour drink has a great tang to it amongst the sweetness.
If you have any green thickie recipes to share I’d love to have them and feature them on this website. If you would like to share a recipe please leave it in the comments or Contact Me here.
Dad’s Big Super Sweet and Sour Drink (Green Smoothie/Green Thickie)
Ingredients
- 4 Cup Water If you are drinking this straight away substitute one cup of ice for water so it’s nice and cool
- 1 Cup Non Dairy Milk oat, rice, soya, almond, hemp, coconut drink or raw nut or seed milk
- 1 Pink Grapefruit or other type of grapefruit. You can use oranges instead for a less sharp taste
- ½ Cup Broccoli (Or any mild leafy greens)
- ½ Cup Cauliflower (Or mild leafy greens)
- 1 Tablespoon Linseeds or any type of plain seeds.
- 1 Tablespoon Almonds or any type of plain nuts
- ¼ Cup dates or any other dried fruit which can also be pre-soaked for a smoother blend
- 1 Cup Dried Apricots Brown un-sulphured ones are best or other dried fruit
- 1 Cup Oats If you don’t have a powerful blender and want the smoothie very smooth you can soak the oats for an hour before blending
Instructions
- Blend the ingredients in the order listed.
- Add more water if required to thin it out.
- Substitute any of the ingredients for whatever you already have.
- If your smoothie is too warm, you can cool it down in the fridge.
Notes
If you are new to Green Thickies and have more questions about making the perfect green thickie, please read this guide on How to make a Green Thickie.
Suitable for Special Diets (Gluten free*, raw*, vegetarian, vegan, dairy free, egg free, sugar free, wheat free*, soya free*, salt free, nut free*)
* If you want to check if you can drink green thickies on your special diet please read this first. This will suggest some substitutions so you can still enjoy Green Thickies with ingredients you can tolerate.
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This recipe is a blended complete meal containing natural protein sources and leafy greens. If you’d like any more information about these topics, check out my complete guides below:
- The Ultimate Smoothie Blender Guide
- The Only Guide To Protein Shakes You’ll Ever Need
- Over 50 Spinach Recipes: The Complete Collection
- The Complete Guide To Green Smoothies
- The Essential Guide To Meal Replacement Shakes
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April @ The 21st Century Housewife says
Wow, there is a lot of goodness in this smoothie! I like the sweet / sour contrast of the flavours.
Katherine Natalia says
Hi April, thanks so much for your comment. My Dad is visiting at the moment, so I’ll let him know you like it. Thank you.
Jorge says
Just made this in my hotel room kitchen! Made for a pcreeft post-run recovery drink. The peanut butter and banana alone didn’t blend for me so I added a half cup of skim milk (how did your smoothie turn out so liquidy with no dairy?). The addition of spinach was brilliant didn’t taste it at all (not that I mind its taste). Will definitely be making this one again and again. Thanks Alia!
Katherine Natalia @ Green Thickies says
That’s great you made a good smoothie. Did you make the banana and peanut butter green thickie? I usually add water or dairy free milk to add liquid. You have to have some kind of liquid in your smoothies otherwise they’d be a pudding. That’s great you couldn’t taste the spinach. Thanks for visiting.
Kanako says
It’s funny I’ve had something like this beofre and used to make it all the time when I had a blender! I got a version of this from a friend: Berries, 1/2 banana, almond milk, flax oil, and fresh spinach. All you can taste is the berry flavor and it is packed with energy. More ways to eat spinach please and thanks! xoxoxooxo
Katherine Natalia @ Green Thickies says
That sounds gorgeous. Thanks for sharing that recipe. I often use a blender unfortunately but I am about to do a series on making a smoothie without a blender so you could try those and let me know what you think. You could also use an immersion blender if you don’t have a big blender?