Spring Green Smoothie!

SPRING GREEN SMOOTHIE

Last weekend I caught a show on PBS entitled "What Are You Hungry For?" where Deepak Chopra, among many wise and smart things, advised viewers to "Eat the rainbow." The more colorful the food, the more health benefits to be derived. One of the green foods he advised us to incorporate into our menus is, here it comes (and you know it already, I'm sure)…KALE. I am not a fan of kale. I have not given it a fair shot, though, and decided to let it back into my grocery cart and kitchen for another chance.

My work hours are crazy this time of year, and I am rarely home to cook a dinner meal. And when I am home, I tend to make it as easy as possible with (gasp) a bowl of cereal or, if I am feeling ambitious, a grilled cheese sandwich. True confessions from a food blogger, though I give myself a pass because most of what I post is baking-related!

So, I thought, how the heck do I actually get that kale into my body? The solution: a breakfast smoothie! I was hesitant to make a green drink, because, to me, they are visually unappealing. But, I decided to grow up, snap out of it,  and started stacking kale and other colorful ingredients in my Magic Bullet container.

Here's my recipe, in order of how I added them to the container:

SPRING GREEN SMOOTHIE

1 serving scoop of vanilla whey protein (you can use whatever protein powder you prefer)
1 loose fist-full of baby kale
6-8 Frozen pineapple chunks - makes your smoothie nice and cold
1/4 sliced banana
10 red grapes

Over this stack of color, I pour in enough unsweetened coconut milk to bring it about 1/2-3/4 of the way up the container.

And finally, 1 or 2 ice cubes

I screwed on the blade section to the Magic Bullet and let it whirl until it all looked smooth and incorporated.

It wasn't an ugly green! It was a light minty green that seemed to say, "Welcome spring!"

It was cool, and delicious, and tropical! I tasted NO kale, but it was beautifully flecked throughout the smoothie. The primary flavors were pineapple and banana.

Now, that's my new way to start the day with lots of color!