Chamomile & Apricot Smoothie

According to the Women's Weekly recipe book, this smoothie is great for fighting anxiety. As we all know, chamomile is the perfect calming tea. When combined with the soothing and vitamin filled apricots and oats, this is the perfect combination. While I'm well aware that it might have been a placebo effect I sure felt calm sipping this smoothie on Saturday morning. It may have been the fact that I'd been on holidays for two weeks. Or that I was sat on the couch watching the weather roll in with absolutely no prospects for the day ahead, but I felt unmistakably calm. I'll be keeping this one up my sleeve for the next time my darling class of eight year olds have my anxiety levels rising.

Soaking the cashews isn't 100% necessary but it softens them and helps to neutralise the physic acid that makes nuts difficult to digest. Cashews are also high in Vitamin B6 which can help lift serotonin levels and therefore enhance mood so let's treat our cashews kindly and start this recipe the night before.

Soaking the apricots in the tea is also a night-before activity. By morning you'll be looking at plump, juicy apricots bursting with vitamins A and C that are ready to be combined with cholesterol-lowering oats.

Ingredients

1/2 cup (75g) raw cashews

1 chamomile tea bag

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup (75g) dried apricots

1 cup water

2 tbsp rolled oats

1 tbsp honey

Method

The night before, rinse cashews in a sieve under cold water. Place cashews in a bowl, cover with water and a clean tea towel and stand at room temperature overnight. Drain nuts through a sieve and rinse.

Place tea bag in boiling water in a heatproof jar. Stand for 5 minutes then discard tea bag. Add apricots and refrigerate until cold. This step can also be done the night before and left overnight.

Blend rinsed cashews, tea mixture, water, oats and honey in a high-speed blender until smooth.

Serve drizzled with honey.

Serves 2.

Recipe from the Australian Women's Weekly.