Banana & Peanut Butter Smoothie

Like a lot of food bloggers (and certainly a lot of Scots) I like to start my day with a pint. Luckily for my liver, it's usually a pint of banana and peanut smoothie.

Bananas are probably one of my few textural phobias. I don't mind when they are ripe, but if they are over or under ripe they set my teeth on edge. Just thinking about that starchy mushy stuff is making me shudder.

Despite this, I can't bear to throw them out, and there's only so much banana bread you can make. Instead, I blend them up with milk and peanut butter to make a rather delicious smoothie. (Prepare yourself for some of the dullest photos I have ever published.)

Banana & Peanut Butter Smoothie

While this is a bit of a fatty combo, it does make for a pretty healthy start for the day. The banana is one of the 5 a day, plus it's a great source of potassium. The peanut butter has lots of vitamins and minerals, including selenium. One of the few interesting facts I still remember from my dissertation is that low selenium consumption in a population can be linked to the prevalence of HIV within that population. As I am not really a big consumer of dairy products, I also like having the milk in there, it's probably the only calcium I get.

The banana's sweetness really comes out in this drink, but it's balanced by the saltiness of the peanut butter. Putting it through the blender makes it very foamy, which adds a creamy richness that shouldn't really be there with semi-skimmed.

Mmm, foamy.

Banana & Peanut Butter Smoothie
Makes 1 pint/550ml

1 banana
1 generous tbsp of smooth peanut butter
350ml milk

Put everything in a blender and mix thoroughly.

For an extra twist, add ice cubes or chop and freeze the banana before blending.