Green Smoothie
We’re almost halfway through January, so it’s about time I posted a healthy recipe. Are you getting your 5-a-day servings of fruits and vegetables? I’ve got you covered with this green smoothie—and, yes, as you may suspect, the green component is spinach!
I happen to love baby spinach. If there’s a future recall by the FDA due to contamination of some sort, then I’m a goner because I consume so much of it on a daily basis. If you’re familiar with Dr. Barry Sears’ Zone Diet (keeping your blood sugar within a normal range, “the Zone”), then you’ll know that spinach is the perfect zone food.
We baby boomers associate spinach with Popeye whose cartoons I watched faithfully on Saturday mornings when I was a kid. Popeye would always scarf down a whole can of spinach, then his biceps would bulge, and he’d go beat the crap out of Bluto, who was always being dastardly toward Olive Oyl. (It’s ironic that we watched those violent cartoons and grew up to be the peace and love, anti-war generation.) As I look back now, I suspect the whole cartoon series was dreamt up by parents who wanted their children to eat more vegetables.
In any event, I have tried several green smoothie recipes but never cared for any of them until this one. Despite the fact that there are almost three cups of spinach in the smoothie, I was hard pressed to detect a spinach flavor. So, if you’re spinach-averse, don’t be afraid to try it. The smoothie contains a lot of fruit which on its own sweetens the smoothie to the point that I thought it was plenty sweet with just one tablespoon of honey. Roger, who didn’t appear enthusiastic about trying it, thought the smoothie was quite delicious.
When you do the nutritionals, there are six servings of fruit and vegetables in this smoothie recipe. If you split it with someone, you will each get 3 out of your 5 required fruit-vegetable servings for the day. I think if Popeye were around to taste this, he’d throw away the can of spinach and drink the whole blender full of smoothie all by himself!
Green Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 banana (frozen or not), cut into chunks
- 1 cup chopped frozen pineapple
- 1 pear, coarsely chopped
- 1 1/2 cups orange juice
- 2 1/2 cups baby spinach leaves, rinsed and dried, lightly packed
- 1 to 2 tbl. honey or agave syrup
- 1 to 2 tbl. flaxseed oil, optional
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Directions
Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree until completely smooth.
Taste and adjust sweetness with additional honey, if desired. (I have a sweet tooth and thought it was plenty sweet with just one tablespoon of honey.) Serve immediately.
Yields 2 to 3 servings
Fran’s Notes
I know many people put protein powder in their smoothies; and, obviously, you are free to do so. I personally can’t stand the stuff. Beyond the fact that it makes everything taste like wallpaper paste, there are unhealthy factors involved in the sourcing of the milk protein such as this and this and this. I am a firm believer that you are what you eat!
Source: Slightly adapted Annie’s Eats recipe