Oat-Mango Smoothie with Blackberries

If you're ever looking for a super-quick, healthy and delicious pick-me-up for breakfast — or any other time of the day, for that matter — oat and fruit smoothies are the way to go, as my good friend Holler from Tinned Tomatoes has discovered. The mild flavour of oats provides just a hint of nuttiness without overcoming the tang of yogurt and the sweetness of fruit that makes these drinks so appealing, while providing an especially good source of B vitamins, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, protein, and soluble fat and fibre. Together with the vitamins from mangoes and blackberries, notably C, B6, B9 and A, and the easily digestible milk protein in fermented yogurt, what's not good about this smoothie?

Like other glutinous grains, oats must be fermented themselves to make their proteins digestible and available for absorption. For my smoothies, I use the yogurt with its whey content to soak and ferment the oats in a variation of the muesli technique. While some may find the idea of leaving yogurt overnight at room temperature unappealing, it is perfectly safe since the broken-down lactic acid in yogurt prevents harmful bacterial culturation, and it really brings out the natural tangy flavour of yogurt besides.

Oat-mango smoothie with blackberries

3/4 cup rolled or steel-cut oats
1 1/2 cups whole-fat yogurt (from raw milk if possible)
1 medium red mango, peeled and chopped
1/4 pint blackberries
2/3 cup water
2 tablespoons honey
pinch of ground cardamom
4 ice cubes

Stir the yogurt into the oats and let soak overnight at room temperature in a covered non-plastic bowl.

In the morning, blend the soaked oats together with all the other ingredients in a blender until smooth and frothy. Serve with breakfast, or as a snack. Makes 4 large servings.