It Ain’t Easy Being Green
Happy Earth Day, y’all! I’m going to capitalize on the popularity of this holiday by doing a little post about going green. Now I’m not talking about green in the ecological sense of the word, I’m referring to green smoothies.
What’s a green smoothie?
That, my friends, is a green smoothie. It looks gross, right? Right. You know why it looks that way? Because there’s SPINACH in it. Ew, I know you’re so grossed out right now. I need you to trust me when I tell you that green smoothies are actually delicious. I was skeptical at first too, but after my first green smoothie I was hooked. Let me share the recipe I use with you, and then we can talk a little more.
Dyan’s Interpretation of the Green Smoothie
- Blend together a generous handful of fresh spinach, with 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup pineapple juice
- Add 1 cup of frozen pineapple*, and blend some more. It may help to blend it on the “ice crush ” feature of your blender, although you won’t have to worry about that if you have a fancy VitaMix blender. (<– jealous of those people)
- Add 1 cup of frozen mango*, and blend until smooth. Taste the smoothie before you pour it, to determine whether or not you need more fruit or juice to mask the spinach taste.
*this may sound counterintuitive, but let your frozen fruit thaw out a little bit first, otherwise you’ll end up with a thick sorbet-like consistency. it’s also easier on your blender.
So this is not the end-all, be-all recipe for green smoothies, but I do consider it to be a pretty decent Fisher Price My First Green Smoothie. You can play around with other fruit combinations to suit your tastes, but I find that the pineapple is such a strong flavor that it really keeps you from tasting the spinach, and I love the combination of pineapple and mango. If the color of the smoothie puts you off, I find that a handful of blueberries will make it a lovely shade of purple. If you prefer dairy based smoothies, I encourage you to play around with the inclusion of yogurt or milk to replace the water/juice. Experiment until you get a final product that’s delicious, and that you’re willing to drink.
If you have any favorite smoothie combinations, please share them in the comments!
my two weeks notice 
shawn oneill said,
April 22, 2010 at 8:22 am
while we are on the topic of green smoothies, you should try using avocado. it gives smoothies a very nice fluffy consistency. it also works well with blueberries and pineapple.
dyan f. said,
April 22, 2010 at 8:36 am
as someone who, you well know, is obsessed with avocados, i’m going to have to try this!
Karen Casko said,
April 22, 2010 at 8:58 am
The smoothie may not be the most attractive but that wall color is FABULOUS!!
dyan f. said,
April 22, 2010 at 9:34 am
thanks! it’s behr’s “deep blue sea”
AvocadOMG « my two weeks notice said,
May 31, 2011 at 5:49 pm
[…] people don’t like avocados, so in that case I might suggest adding half an avocado to a green smoothie. It adds a richness to your smoothie without adding a lot of sweetness (unlike a banana), and […]