I know what you’re thinking. What is a green smoothie doing on my blog? There’s no butter, no sugar, no chocolate. Just fruit and spinach.
I blame living in LA for this. People out here are very into juicing and smoothies and being healthy. And while I occasionally have cookies for dinner, I generally try and eat pretty healthily. For those who know me, though, I am not a big fruit eater whatsoever. Never have been. It just isn’t a food that I actively seek out. If you put a cake in front of me with strawberries on it, I’ll have a slice. If you put something on my plate for me, chances are I’ll eat it. If you hand me an orange slice, I’ll eat it. But when it comes to myself going to the grocery store, picking out fruit, and then actively choosing it as a snack at home? I don’t do that.
So, when a lot of my favorite blogs started talking more about smoothies and juicing, I realize that maybe I found a way to get the nutrients of fruit into my diet without having to actually eat the fruit. So I experimented. I tried adding yogurt, but gave up on that because I couldn’t figure out how much to put in. After some time, I finally figured out a routine that didn’t involve any measurements whatsoever. It was more like a banana, some spinach, some mixed berries, some mango chunks, some pineapple, and some water. Then I got to know the consistency I preferred. A lot of this is about preference and your palate.
Basically, you can take this recipe and make it your own. If you want it to stay this lovely green color, avoid adding berries or dark fruit. I generally do add berries but it makes it a kind of ugly purple brown color. But it’s delicious. Add some peeled orange or apple if you have that laying around. It’s all about personal preference. But whatever you do, please add spinach. It’s an easy way to get vegetables in your diet, you can’t taste it (promise), and it helps make that pretty green color!
Anyway. This particular “recipe” (I used quotation marks because this is the first time I actually sat down and measured what to put in. I realized when my boyfriend had asked me for a recipe so he could start making smoothies without yogurt like so many recipes call for, that maybe more people would like to see this kind of recipe here. Who knows.) tastes nice and tropical, so for those dealing with heat waves and uncomfortable temperatures, this smoothie would make a nice afternoon snack.
Healthy Green Smoothie
makes 1 large smoothie (2 1/2 cups)
1 medium ripe banana, cut into chunks
2 large handfuls spinach
1 cup frozen pineapple
1 cup frozen mango chunks
1/3 cup to 1/2 cup water
Add all of the above ingredients to a blender, starting with about 1/3 cup water. Blend ingredients together until smooth. If smoothie is too thick, add a little more water until right consistency.
[source: a Confectionary Tales original]
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