From the Blender: Date, Tahini, and Cardamom Smoothie

Date, Tahini, and Cardamom Smoothie

The sweetness in this smoothie comes from the caramely flavor of medjool dates, which are the perfect complement to savory tahini. A frozen banana chills things down.

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[Photo: Autumn Giles]

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Lately, ripe bananas have been getting on my nerves. I cleaned out my freezer and was straight up horrified at the number of shriveled, black, completely freezer-burnt bananas that I found shoved in every possible crevice.

So I confess: I surrendered and threw them all away. Then I made a banana resolution to reserve 2 or 3 bananas from each new bunch that I buy, peel, and freeze them in quart ziploc bag for smoothies before they get so ripe that the only thing I can do is shove them in the freezer and try my hardest to forget about them.

Since seeing this recipe for raw fudge that uses dates and tahini making the rounds on on Pinterest, I haven't been able to get that flavor combination out of my head. Thanks to bananas' affinity for nut butters, a frozen banana is a perfect addition. Plus, they add that magical non-dairy creaminess that only bananas can.

The sweetness in this smoothie comes from the caramely flavor of medjool dates, which are the perfect complement to the savory tahini. I store my dates in the fridge and I've learned the hard way that they aren't exactly easy to blend when they're cold. So the one itty bit of prep work involved in this smoothie is just making sure your dates are at room temperature. It's like setting out a stick of butter before you make cookies. No big deal.