Can color single-handedly make the recipe? Probably not. But when I fell into this Dairy-Free Raspberry Almond Smoothie, sure the flavor was out-of-this-world divine, but it was the color that caught my eye time and time again. Vibrant pink shades with hints of raspberry seed. The girls and I have been loving on it this summer, and it wasn’t until recently that I even decided to put it on the blog. In fact, each time I made it, I just threw the ingredients into the blender and turned it up to 11.

When I decided to share this Dairy-Free Raspberry Almond Smoothie with you, THAT’S when the real work began. What were the exact amounts in the recipe? HALP! I hadn’t the foggiest idea. I could only describe the recipe by color and size of glass I had been using all summer. A sweet shade of pink, oh, and it should fill that glass over there on the counter.

Helpful, no?This also pretty much sums up the way The Gram cooked, baked, and generally whipped up a storm in the kitchen. “To make potato salad, Morgan, you’ll need that yellow bowl over there. Then fill it with potatoes and hard-boiled eggs just to the spot in the bowl where there’s the little scratch I accidentally left in 1957, and green olives, of course. Don’t forget those.”

I wrote furiously, trying to capture her directions. Yellow bowl – check. Potatoes and lots of eggs and green olives – check, check, and check. Fill to scratch mark —— “Wait, Gram, without the bowl, the recipe makes no sense.” I’m certain she said several “oh dears,” but we managed to figure out a recipe that was workable in any kitchen.When I inherited the yellow bowl, and its brothers and sisters in blue, green, and red, I made a solemn vow to to my family that I would care for the collection as I would my own children. To be fair, probably the bowls get red carpet treatment more often than the girls do. We don’t expect the bowls to clean their own rooms.

Okay, but to make things easier for you, especially if you don’t have that glass sitting on my counter or The Gram’s yellow bowl, I made this several times more to figure out exactly what I had done to create it, and, Spiriteds, we have a winner. Also if Dairy-Free Raspberry Almond Smoothie doesn’t exude summer, then, frankly, I don’t know what does. I suspect 20 years from now, I’ll be making a batch of this only to be transported back down memory lane to this very summer when the girls were this very age. It’s been a good summer without anything terribly fancy even happening. I’m a little sad to see it end. Already I’m getting a head start on having “the feelings” about memory lane. So let’s talk ingredients and amounts instead because Dairy-Free Raspberry Almond Smoothie is also nothing if not low maintenance.

First, you can use fresh or thawed fruit. FOR THE WIN! And if that smoothie is in all caps, well then, so much the better. Who doesn’t love a convenient, flexible smoothie during the lazy lull of summer? Ooh, not to mention (except for the fact that I will mention), if you choose fresh fruit, then I suspect you’ll need less sweetener, if any at all. And if you go with thawed fruit, add sweetener as desired. I typically alternate between agave nectar and honey when I use thawed fruits, but just about any sweetener will do.

I also add one cup almond milk and a cup of strawberries to offset the tartness. And that is literally all I do. You can add chia seeds, ice cubes, almond slices, or extra pieces of fruit as a garnish. But this simple smoothie with just three base ingredients stands on its own just fine.