It’s finally officially summer, and that means that fresh fruit is back in grocery stores and local farm stands!  There’s going to be lots of fruit options available throughout the coming months, and smoothies are just one way to feature them.  I thoroughly enjoy smoothies, but after having my wisdom teeth removed last summer and having to survive on liquid food for about a week and a half, I kind of lost interest in smoothies for awhile.  But this year I decided I’m going to jump back on the smoothie train and try to have at least one smoothie a week.  So I’ll share my smoothie of the week with you, and if you have any suggestions for new smoothie combos, feel free to leave them in the comments!

I decided to start with a mango smoothie because, well, I just really enjoy mango smoothies.  Mangos are one of those fruits that I always forget how much I like them until I eat them again.  Mangos are really yummy, but eating them can occasionally end with mango strands wedged between your teeth.  So smoothies are a great way to get that mango flavor without having to floss afterwards.

This is what you’ll need.

Mango Smoothie:

• 1 mango, with skin and seed removed
• 1 5.3 oz container greek yogurt (vanilla or mango flavor)
• 6 ice cubes
• ¼ cup mango, pineapple, and/or orange juice
• 1 tbsp mango chutney (optional)
• Sugar to taste
• Pinch of salt

After removing the skin and seed from the mango, cut it up into chunks, whatever size you think your blender can handle best.  Add ice cubes, mango, and yogurt to the blender and blend until all the ice has been crushed.  Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until well mixed, about 2 minutes or so.  Make sure to taste along the way to see if more sugar or juice or anything is needed.  Pour into a tall glass, and enjoy!

I realize not everyone is going to have mango chutney on hand, and it isn’t vital to the recipe, but if you do happen to have some, I find it’s a nice addition to the smoothie.  It adds both more mango and a bit of a kick.

Since this is the first smoothie post, I’ll add this here: I know it may sound strange, but I generally add a pinch of salt to all my smoothies.  It doesn’t make the smoothie salty it just helps bring out the flavors of all the other ingredients.