Ready, Set, Weekend with Simply Beautiful Eating

Each time we visit one of our favourite Indian restaurants, we are served a complimentary mango lassi shooter before we order our meals. It’s totally creamy, dreamy and refreshingly delish. I wanted to create a healthy version of this drink without adding fat but still maintaining a full body flavour.

Gosh dang it, I think I DID IT.

There are a few components that make a lassi a lassi.

This drink is basically a yogurt based mango milkshake or smoothie and are super easy to make at home.

You can use cubed fresh or frozen mango. If you use fresh, you’ll want to make sure it’s a ripe, sweet mango or you will end up making a sourpuss face on your initial sip.

What happens if your mango isn’t ripe enough? Fear not. All you need to do is add more agave or honey to taste.

Now, you can make a lassi many different ways. I’m giving you a bunch of scenarios here. Vegan option? Yes. Authentic option? Sure. With cardamom? Of course! Without cardamom? Why not? A dash of cinnamon? Can’t hurt. Milk?? Absolutely any kind will do. Yogurt? A must. Coconut Yogurt for a vegan option will make this drink taste more coconutty but that’s never an issue with me. Sugar, honey, agave or sweetener ? Whatever floats your lassi boat.

I made my lassies to start my day and added a scoop of protein powder to the blender. This little meal in a glass was a perfect drink to quench my post workout thirst.

Grab your mangoes and get your lassi hats on folks. You are going to love this drink.

MANGO LASSI

·      2 cups low-fat plain yogurt, coconut for vegan or any other kind you like

·      2 cups chopped ripe mango (or use frozen cubes)

·      1 tablespoon honey or agave for vegan

·      ½ teaspoon ground cardamom

·      zest from one small lemon

·      ⅔ cup milk, any milk you desire or sub in water4

·      4-5 ice cubes

1.  Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Taste the mango lassi to see if it's sweet enough. Add additional sweetener if desired. Garnish with additional cardamom or a pinch of cinnamon.