#VeganRamadan: You'll love these yummy filling smoothies for suhur

Smoothies are amazing any time of year, but when you're strapped with time and need to get in as many nutrients as possible, they are your suhur saviours.

Narrated

4 min read

Diana Alghoul

29 Apr, 2019

Smoothies are underrated [Getty]

Suhur is the pre-fasting meal that Muslims around the world wake up to eat before the sun rises. As bad as it may sound, a lot of the time, people just eat whatever is most accessible with no real consideration for nutrition, nor any planning as to how much water they're drinking.

Skipping suhur or just eating whatever is available can be an easy trap to fall into. But smoothies are the best way forward because they're filling, nutritious and hydrating. They're also incredibly versatile and you can make a different smoothie every day.

Of course, the possibilities are endless, but here are five smoothie recipes to get you started this Ramadan:

1. Avocado and date smoothie

I love avocados and dates – I usually eat dates as a snack and I have avocados with savoury meals (hello hummus, avocado and olive oil pitta sandwiches). Avocados are amazing because they suit savoury and sweet food, but this deliciously fatty smoothie will cater to every fasting person's sweet tooth:

Ingredients (serves 2):
1 medium-large avocado
1 ripe banana (fresh or frozen)
5 pitted dates (you can always add more if you want it sweeter)
2 cups of coconut milk (or any other plant milk – I chose coconut because I love the taste)

Method:
Whizz it in the blender and add more dates/milk to your desired taste or texture. This should serve two people. If you want to use half an avocado for one person, you can peel and de-seed the rest of the avocado and save it in the freezer for the next smoothie.

You can also use this recipe as a base to replace different fruits like mango, berries, papaya. Or you can make it chocolatey with a tablespoon of cacao powder. With avocados and dates, get as creative as you want.

2. Frozen berries and almond smoothie

On normal days, this is my go-to smoothie for breakfast. It's something I do mindlessly when I'm running late or when I just want to have something nice and cold. It's also the perfect pick-me-up when I'm having a bad skin day because of the antioxidants or when I'm feeling bloated:

Ingredients (serves 2):

1 cup of mixed frozen berries
2 cups of almond milk
10 almonds
1 banana
1 tbsp flax seed
1 tsp cinnamon

Method:
Again, just get all of the ingredients and whizz up. This technically should serve two people but I usually keep it all to myself.

3. Chocoholic smoothie

Who doesn't love chocolate? This smoothie is to fill your chocolate cravings, but the right way so you don't find yourself going through a whole bar of chocolate for suhur.

Ingredients (serves 2):
1 cup of oats
5 pitted dates (add more to taste)
2 cups of plant milk
1 tablespoon cacao powder
1/2 a handful of raw nuts of choice (hazelnut is my favourite to pair up with chocolate because it makes me nostalgic for Nutella)

Method:
Whizz it all up in a blender and it should serve two. If you want, feel free to replace the oats with a banana. If it's not sweet enough, add a sweetener of your choice. I usually add more dates.

4. Coconut water green smoothie

If you want me to be completely honest, I can't stand green smoothies and I'm slowly trying to convert myself. There are so many ways to make green smoothies (some of which are actually sweet) but I prefer to keep them light.

Ingredients (serves two):
2 cups coconut water
2 cups of leafy greens (my preference is baby spinach)
1 banana
1 small mango (or any other fruit)
1 tbsp flax seed

Method:
First, blend the leafy green with the coconut water. Once it's all incorporated, add the fruit and blend again. If it's too thick, add more water.

5. Nut-butter protein smoothies

With nut-butter smoothies, people tend to go for the obvious peanut butter, but I want to give you all a base that you can use with any nut-butter lying around.

Ingredients (serves 2):
1 scoop of protein powder
1 banana
2 cups of plant milk
2 tablespoons of nut-butter

Method:
Blend the milk and nut butter until fully incorporated, then add the rest of the ingredients. Enhance the flavour with either a few pinches of cinnamon, or cacao powder and add either fresh or frozen fruit of your choice.

Supercharge your smoothies

The best thing about smoothies is you can literally supercharge them with extra nutrients any time. You can add the following to any of your smoothies:

Acai berry powder, spirulina powder, chia seeds (also doubles up as a thickener), vegan protein powder, nut-butter, flax seed, cinnamon, hemp seeds and cacao powder (different from cocoa powder – this link will explain).

Good luck!

Diana Alghoul is a British/Palestinian journalist at The New Arab and lifestyle blogger.

Follow her on Twitter: @SuperKnafeh