Name: Recipe: Blackberry & Apple Green Smoothie {Vegan, Paelo}
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients: 1 apples ((chopped, core discarded)); 70 g grapes ((I used black)); 120 g blackberries; 1 banana; 1 large handful spinach; 10 g oats; 5 tbs linseed or flax seeds ((ground)); pinch ground all spice; pinch ground cinnamon; Enough water to blend; 1 tsp mixed seeds; 1 sprig fresh mint

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This blackberry and apple green smoothie is a great way to start the day, and has an added extra helping of spinach for that healthy boost. Vegetarian, Vegan, Paleo Friendly. Freeze into ice lolly moulds for a refreshing and healthy popsicle.

Do you think of blackberries as an autumn fruit? So do I, but in fact farmed blackberries are in season in the UK from May through to November. Despite its name the blackberry is not actually a true berry, but rather an aggregate fruit made up of a number of small drupelets.

Farmed blackberries are rather different from the hedgerow varieties and on a sunny day last month I headed off to family owned Clock House Farm in Kent to learn more Driscoll’s Victoria Sweet blackberries

Driscolls Victoria sweet blackberries are completely unlike the smaller versions of the fruit found in many hedgerows. Large, sweet and with a rounded flavour, they have a rich, almost wine-like flavour.

They’re grow on farms throughout the UK; the young plants are kept in cold storage, then planted in greenhouses or in the field, at staggered dates to ensure a constant supply.

Each fruit is handpicked (as you can see above) to ensure peak ripeness and flavour. The farmers are dedicated to making sure the fruit passes Driscoll’s exacting quality control standards. This type of blackberry is thornless, so picking is not the prickly experience you will know from when foraging in the hedgerow.

In the greenhouse the plants are around 3 meters tall and the fruit from the top of them is harvested from these rather whizzy electric carts that run on rails between the rows of blackberries. Read more about the farm at the end of the post.

But back to the recipe – blackberry and apple is a classic combination; more usually used in pies and crumbles, which works very well in a glass. I added a pinch of spice to hint at a classic crumble, you barely know it is there, but it adds another subtle layer of flavour which you would miss if it were absent.

You really cannot taste the spinach in this at all, and it is a bonus way to eat some extra vegetables first thing in the morning.

I use a power blender for my smoothies with about half the fruit being frozen. If your blender is not as high powered then chill your ingredients overnight.

4.78 from 18 votes

A glass goblet containing blackberrt and apple smoothie garnished with mixed seeds, mint and blackberries. In the glass there are two striped straws. In the background there are fresh blackberries and apples.

Recipe: Blackberry & Apple Green Smoothie {Vegan, Paelo}

Prep Time

5 mins

Total Time

5 mins

Blackberry and apple pie green smoothie in a glass, with an added (and undetectable) portion of green veg. Vegan and Paleo Friendly.
Freeze into ice lolly moulds for a refreshing and healthy popsicle.

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: Smoothie, Vegan

Keyword: Blackberry and Apple Smoothie, Blackberry Smoothie

Servings: 2 servings

Calories: 317 kcal

Author: Helen Best-Shaw

Ingredients

1 apples (chopped, core discarded)
70 g grapes (I used black)
120 g blackberries
1 banana
1 large handful spinach
10 g oats
5 tbs linseed or flax seeds (ground)
pinch ground all spice
pinch ground cinnamon
Enough water to blend

To serve

1 tsp mixed seeds
1 sprig fresh mint

Instructions

Place all the ingredients into your blender and whizz until smooth adding more water if necessary.
Enjoy immediately.

Recipe Notes

Use gluten free oats to make this blackberry and apple smoothie gluten free
You can use frozen bananas, grapes and/or blackberries, if your bender is not powerful enough chill all the ingredients overnight in the fridge before making
Remove the oats to make it Whole 30
This recipe is 12 Weight Watchers Smart Points
Freeze into ice lolly moulds for a refreshing and healthy popsicle

Nutrition Facts

Recipe: Blackberry & Apple Green Smoothie {Vegan, Paelo}

Amount Per Serving

Calories 317 Calories from Fat 108

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 12g 18%

Saturated Fat 1g 5%

Sodium 11mg 0%

Potassium 693mg 20%

Total Carbohydrates 49g 16%

Dietary Fiber 14g 56%

Sugars 25g

Protein 7g 14%

Vitamin A 5.3%

Vitamin C 27.9%

Calcium 8.7%

Iron 13.4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Blackberry plants growing in a large greenhouse. In the centre of the picture is a wide avenue. Shadows from the glasshouse structure draw the eye to the centre of the picture.

The vast greenhouse that the blackberries grow in.

Driscolls farmers are committed to being as green as they can, they use biomass generators for heat, and natural pollination from bees. The plants are fed and watered by high tech completer systems, using just enough for optimum growth.

Later in the season production is moved to the fields where the blackberries are grown in pots, under cover. Accommodation is provided in static mobile homes for the army of pickers.

Recipe for Blackberry & Apple Green Smoothie commissioned by Driscoll’s® Victoria Sweet Blackberries. All opinions are our own.

Driscolls strawberries growing on raised beds at Clockhouse Farm – far easier to harvest than the rows growing in the fields when I picked as a student.