It’s getting close to that time of year when we do a fruit fast for both health and spiritual reasons. We’re not actually fasting on just fruit this year, but I have been wanting to add more fruit to our daily diets, and make healthier breakfasts and lunches. So … inspired by our friend Charity who is a personal chef, and Elsie of A Beautiful Mess, I invented my own dairy-free green smoothie for lunch today. This is all I ate. Tim had a piece of multigrain bread with peanut butter along with his smoothie.
It just feels so dang healthy to eat this way.
I used So Delicious (brand) Coconut Milk Beverage, along with a tangelo, granny smith apple, and a couple of huge handfuls of fresh spinach. Added a frozen banana and avocado for creaminess and thicker consistency. And the banana gave just enough sweetness to round out the taste. I also added a sprinkle of cinnamon and a little vanilla (don’t smoothies always have vanilla?)
I like to use raw nuts in smoothies — for protein and chewiness. What? Never thought of a smoothie as being chewy? Well you’re in for a treat. Try it! Blend it in a blender, tasting as you go until you get the texture just the way you like it. The almonds make the smoothie a little grainy — in a good way — something for your teeth to gnaw.
INGREDIENTS
makes two large smoothies
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 small avocado
- 1/2 large green apple
- 1 large tangelo
- handful of raw almonds
- 1/2 vanilla, or to taste
- 1 1/2 cups boxed coconut milk beverage
- 4 cups fresh spinach
- a teense of cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon golden flax seed
PREPARATION: put everything in a blender together and blend away! When it’s smooth enough for you, drink it and enjoy.
After I made our smoothies, I thought I’d look around on the web to see what other people are putting in their green smoothies (I know the whole idea of a green smoothie came from somewhere. It’s a trend these days with foodies) and discovered that I must have been channeling Joy and Tracey who also use bananas and dark leafy greens in their smoothies. I used what we had in our kitchen, and mine is similar to theirs. Just goes ta show ya … there are only so many original ideas in the universe anymore. heh
Green Smoothie “Formula”
If you want to make up your own version of a green (aka “energy”) smoothie, you need a blender and:
- something to add body to the smoothie (fruit, nuts)
- something to add fiber (nuts, seeds, greens, whole fruits with skin)
- something to make it palatably sweet (banana, other fruit, dates –as Tracey does –or a sweetener if you like,) something to make it creamy (banana, avocado, nut-butter, yogurt, etc)
- a liquid to make it slide down your throat (juice, soy milk, coconut milk or a nut milk)
- special touches (flax, spices.) I also like to add tang with a citrus like lime, tangerines or lemon.
- one or more of those awesome superfoods, “dark leafy greens” (kale, spinach, chard or collards.)
Oh, one last thing: it’s one of my weird quirks, but I really care what my food looks like. If a green smoothie looks like pea soup, or even slightly “gray,” I’m sorry — it’s just not appetizing to me.
I know. I’m way too picky. Oh well.
Sooo…. I won’t be putting beets or blackberries in my green smoothies. [grin] Confession: major fail two days ago. We had grilled tuscan chicken with sundried tomato leftover from our date at On Broadway. Being a smartie pants, I thought I would make a quick red wine reduction for extra pizzazz and toss it with some leftover scampi and linguine. Not only did it turn out pink (yuck) but it was grayish pink. Ewww! We ate it anyway and Tim, bless his heart — not only did he eat it — he ate it with eyes wide open. He said it was tasty. I love you Tim. <3