Anti-inflammatory strawberry & raspberry smoothie (vegan, GF)

Hi everybody! How did your Monday start? Mine started with me looking from the window to our little town covered with snow (again!), than ignoring that by looking at my pretty flowers I bought two days ago and eating strawberries for breakfast. Well not only strawberries but you get the picture. I have the most amazing peanut butter cookies for you this week but I wanted to stay in my “pretending it’s spring outside” mood a little bit longer and start the week with something fresh, healthy, delicious and pretty looking so another smoothie it is! I hope you don’t mind. I mean, I love starting my mornings with oats with almond butter or chocolate granola or banana pancakes but sometimes I’m just not that hungry when I wake up and want something light and fresh. And sometimes, we’ve all been there, maybe had a bit too much to eat previous evening and still feeling heavy and not really ready to eat pancakes or toast. That’s when smoothie is the perfect choice!

So this smoothie is not only pretty but very, very good for you as it’s packed with healthy nutrients, antioxidants and vitamins. It will give you a boost of energy without making you feel heavy, sounds good right? So what makes it so healthy? First of all, strawberries! Like we need a reason to eat strawberries once they are in season but besides being so yummy, they are also one of the healthiest fruit out there. Basically all berries contain antioxidant properties, which are substances that prevent or delay some types of cell damage and can reduce inflammation. Blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, cranberries, and tart cherries contain a class of antioxidants known as flavonoids. Strawberries are an excellent source of vitamin C and they boost your immunity, they fight bad cholesterol, reduce inflammation, because of potassium they also help regulate blood pressure, they boost fibre that is so important for healthy digestion system… There are so many benefits of eating strawberries and other berries so enjoy them fresh as much as you can now that they are in season (in Europe) and the rest of the year you can buy frozen ones and still get all their benefits.

Besides those beautiful berries, what makes this smoothie anti-inflammatory is turmeric. Turmeric has a peppery, warm and slightly bitter flavor and
it comes from the root of the Curcuma longa plant that has a tough brown skin and a deep orange flesh. Turmeric has been used for a long time as a powerful anti-inflammatory agent in both the Chinese and Indian systems of medicine. To optimize its absorption it should be consumed with some kind of healthy fat so that’s why I included coconut oil in this recipe. It is also suggested to add a bit of black pepper when consuming turmeric but I didn’t do that this time as I wanted this smoothie to taste mostly like strawberries and that would change with addition of pepper. Turmeric gives it a mild warm, slightly spicy note but it’s not overwhelming. Besides berries and turmeric, another ingredient of this powerful smoothie that has strong anti-inflammatory properties is ground cinnamon. So there you go, make yourself a smoothie! 🙂

P.S. I forgot to mention, this is my 100th post on Travelling oven and that’s kind of cool and makes me happy!