Smoothies are a quick and easy way to up your fruit and veg intake at home or on the go! Here Amy Brown has put the recipes into simple categories that will help you to find the smoothie that suits you. Additionally, the recipes have been devised with student life in mind so don’t worry if you’re on a budget, you don’t need 17 ingredients to make a good smoothie.

1.The Mean Smoothie

This lean green fighting machine of the smoothie world contains potassium, good fatty acids, antioxidants, zinc, protein, fibre as well as many more long-winded nutrients.

For this you’ll need to whiz up

• 1 avocado (destoned)
• 100ml apple juice
• 1 celery stick (to thicken, if you have it)
• a handful of spinach leaves
• ½ tsp grated ginger (if you dare)

Now this might not be the tastiest concoction, but its health benefits are through the roof, helping you to become healthier quicker. Get it down you!

2. The Fresh Smoothie

This one may be needed to cleanse the palette after a mean smoothie. It’s a staple in the Middle East due to its refreshing and cooling nature. Plus, it’s super simple!

Simply chop up 150g of your favourite melon (cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon etc.) and put it in a blender with a handful of ice cubes. 2 ingredients, 2 minutes.

3. The Cheeky Smoothie

For the days when you want to ditch the gung-ho healthy smoothie lifestyle and inject some fun with a student’s favourite ingredient – alcohol (!) For this Pina Colada inspired smoothie you will need:

• 150g of chopped fresh pineapple (or tinned chunks because who has time?)
• 1 scoop of vanilla ice cream
• 2 shots of Malibu (or however many you want; I won’t judge)

Serve this at pre drinks and be the snazziest pre venue in Canterbury.

4. The Fruity Smoothie

A really simple recipe, loosely based around your preferences. Simply buy a frozen punnet of fruit from Asda (they look like this and are available in cherries, blueberries, summer fruits, raspberries and black forest fruits).

Blitz up a few handfuls and add natural yoghurt until you’re happy with the consistency. For extra fruitiness switch in a fruity yoghurt like the Onken or Yeo Valley natural flavoured yoghurts. Add honey to your taste if needed.

5. The Cheat Smoothie

For this you’ll have fully given up on the mixer life and shamefully taken yourself to the Gulbenkian. They have a great smoothie range on offer that comes ready made with a cheery atmosphere and a brownie (at extra cost). I went for Grape Escape and loved the unusual flavour combination and the lack of effort I contributed.

6. The Vegan Smoothie (an final recipe because we cheated in number 5)

Take:

• 2 frozen bananas, chopped
• handful of blueberries
• dash of water to your liking

and blend them all together until you’re happy with the texture.

Similarly, switch up any diary product from the other recipes and substitute with the same amount of frozen banana to make every smoothie vegan.