Sometimes in January, when the weather is cold and blustery, and the glitter and excitement of the holidays are over, I need something tropical and bright. I need something to remind me that warm weather is out there. But, I also need something that isn’t crazy heavy because the holidays just ended and I may or may not have gone overboard. Seriously, since Thanksgiving, I’ve partied, gone out to eat, and had as many cookies as I wanted.
Enter the smoothie. The perfect balance of sweet, summery, and healthy.
This recipe is adapted from one I originally found in Runner’s World magazine. I’ve added more fruit and I use vanilla almond milk to give it a bit of sweetness, but not too much. You could of course use cow or soy milk if that’s what you have in the house. Also, I heartily recommend that you freeze your bananas. Of course you can use fresh, but there’s something lovely about using frozen ones. You won’t have to use ice and they make the smoothie so wonderfully creamy.
Finally, as you can see, this smoothie is green. Ryan said it looked scary, and I get it. I mean spinach in a smoothie? I know, it’s not for everyone. But, adding spinach is great because it makes your smoothie thick, you get all the healthy nutrients, and you can’t taste its flavor. This smoothie tastes like fruit I promise. It’s really quite delightful and helps get rid of those January blues.
Ingredients:
1 frozen banana
2 kiwis
½ cup cubed mangos (I used frozen, you could use fresh)
½ cup almond milk
¾ cup spinach loosely packed
Directions:
1. Peel and slice your kiwis
2. Take your frozen fruit out of the freezer. Or if you’re using fresh, peel them and chop them so your blender can efficiently chop them.
3. Put all ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth.
4. Taste. If needed, add more fruit, milk, or spinach, to your taste and blend again.
5. Serve!
Messy level: One spoon. So easy, everything goes in the blender and you hardly have to cut or peel anything.
cooking is messy 