Name: Spicy Mango Smoothie
Total time: PLACEHOLDER
Ingredients: 1½ cups frozen mango chunks; 1 red bell pepper , stemmed, seeded, and chopped; ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper; 1¼ cups water , plus extra as needed; Lime wedges for serving

Why This Recipe Works

For a refreshingly zingy beverage, we combined the mango with a whole yellow bell pepper for its vegetal flavor and then kicked it up a notch with cayenne powder. While we loved the taste, we opted to switch to a red bell pepper for more vibrant color and slightly sweeter flavor. Using frozen mango chunks was a great way to keep our smoothie cold—and to find ripe mango year-round. For the blender blades to catch the chunks of mango, we knew we needed to use a lot of liquid but found orange juice to be overwhelming. Substituting water was a good solution, but we missed the acidity, so a hint of lime juice spritzed onto the smoothie just before serving provided that zip we desired against the sweet mango and rounded out the spicy-tropical flavor.

Instructions

Add mango, bell pepper, cayenne, and water to blender and process on low speed until mixture is combined but still coarse in texture, about 10 seconds, scraping down sides of blender jar as needed. Gradually increase speed to high and process until completely smooth, about 90 seconds. Adjust consistency with extra water as needed. Serve with lime wedges.