It was a rather unsettling start to the morning: A noisy whirr coming from our kitchen at barely seven a.m. I tentatively made my way downstairs to find my 10-year old daughter, Rosie, at the helm of our industrial blender, a pile of leafy greens on the kitchen counter. Inspired by the green drink her favorite teacher carts to school each day, Rosie had set to work concocting a vegetable smoothie of her own.
I’ve always encouraged my kids to be independent in the kitchen, but that usually translates to decadent baking projects, not kale smoothies. At any rate, Rosie has been making her “green drink” ever since, a beverage my oldest daughter refers to as “the swamp”.
A Passion Fruit Smoothie
We make a lot of smoothies in our house. And while most of them are actually not green, they are a nutritious answer to quick weekday breakfasts and snacks. The key, of course, is what goes into them. I always include fruits and/or vegetables, a protein/calcium source (milk, soy milk, almond milk, yogurt, kefir, and so on), and other healthy add-ins such as almonds, sunflower seeds, oats, and flax meal.
Try it with Frozen Bananas
Having assorted frozen and fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables on hands makes for effortless smoothies. I keep a bag of bananas in the freezer since they do wonders for a smoothie’s texture, regardless of flavor. When the bananas in my fruit bowl start to go brown, I peel them first and into the freezer bag they go.
Rosie’s Green Smoothie
For the adventurous among you (and those not afraid of a little texture), here is what goes into Rosie’s green drink: 1 cup loosely packed kale, 1/3 cup loosely packed parsley leaves, 2 small apples, cored and roughly chopped, 2/3 cup apple juice, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice.
For those not quite up for “the swamp”, this Passion Fruit Raspberry Smoothie is easy on the tastebuds. It’s adapted from the pages of Super-Charged Smoothies by the Corpening sisters.
If you like Passion Fruit Berry Smoothie, you might like:
Wild Blueberry Brain-Boosting Smoothie
Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie
Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie, a recipe I created for Simply Recipes
You might also like these tips for ordering smoothies from a smoothie shop
Passion Berry Bliss Smoothie
Ingredients
- ½ cup passion-fruit juice (or pineapple juice)
- ½ cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
- 1 ripe banana (frozen, if possible)
- 1 cup frozen strawberries
- ½ cup frozen raspberries
Instructions
-
Combine the passion-fruit juice and yogurt in a blender. Add the banana, strawberries, raspberries, and agave nectar. Blend until smooth.
Recipe Notes
Reprinted with permission from Super-Charged Smoothies by Mary Corpening Barber and Sara Corpening Whiteford, Chronicle Books, 2010
photo credit: Shutterstock
Comments
01.07.2011 at6:54 PM #
morewithles
I sneak spinach into my kids’ smoothies. I use either frozen spinach or the spinach from our small deck veggie garden when it starts to get overgrown (I steam the fresh leaves before putting them in the smoothie). If you put blueberries in too, you can hardly see the green of the spinach. Recently, I’ve also been tossing in some Goji berries, a superfood that they don’t like plain but don’t taste in the smoothie.
01.07.2011 at6:54 PM #
momskitchenhandbook
Those are great suggestions, Leslie. Thanks.
01.08.2011 at6:26 AM #
Kristin Dickerson
Hi Katie,
Love this blog. Sign me up! My hubby makes himself a “green smoothie” almost every day, and I mooch off it for myself. He swears it gives him a big energy rush, and stabilizes his appetite all day.
As for kids liking it, Elizabeth isn’t wild about it, but she loves any kind of fruit smoothie. Here’s another way to make a green smoothie which some of your readers might like:
Fresh, organic, baby spinach leaves, straight from the plastic box or bag from the grocery.
Pack the blender with them, add some water to thin the mixture. We use almond milk to thicken, but you can also use soy or regular milk. Ice thrown in makes it nice and cold. To make the whole thing more palatable, we sweeten with either a half banana or 1-2 packets of Stevia. Agave nectar
works, too, but Richard can’t tolerate too much sweetener. We’ve tried adding flax and it really beefs up the protein and good fat content.
I think most kids would like this, but berries (either frozen or fresh) will definitely disguise the spinach, as one reader said earlier. As you know, spinach is very nutrient rich, though kale is probably even more so.
Thanks for this great blog! We eagerly await your next entry and new writing projects.
–Kristin and family
01.08.2011 at6:26 AM #
momskitchenhandbook
Thanks for the recipe! All super healthy.
01.08.2011 at5:18 PM #
Sammy Oliver
Love this blog, I am going to throw some almonds in my next smoothie!
01.08.2011 at6:29 PM #
Beth Gillis
This was the highlight of my week! Thanks for sharing, Katie. Actually, Rosie’s smoothie is almost all of the same ingredients as my daily green juice (apples, kale, parsley, lemon…also celery, cucumber, ginger and other leafy greens)…I never even thought to turn these ingredients into a smoothie, but it sounds perfect! When I’m feeling lazy and opt out of juice for extra snooze minutes, I come in with a green smoothie. Here’s my favorite recipe:
2 c. unsweetened almond milk
2 frozen bananas
1 handful of raw, organic spinach
3-4 leaves of kale, stems removed
Optional: teaspoon of bee pollen, ground flax or hemp seeds
Blend and enjoy!
Your readers might enjoy checking out Victoria Boutenko’s, “Green for Life” book and website (rawfamily.com). The book has loads of green smoothie recipes (savory, daring, kid-friendly) and lots of reasons about why they are so good for bodies.
01.08.2011 at11:47 PM #
Cynthia Jones
My daughter also pretty much has a daily smoothie for breakfast. I just wanted to add that there are good frozen fruits now available, with no additives, and that makes it easy to always have fruit on hand. Plus, those frozen fruits do add a nice texture to the drink.
Thanks Katie, this is a great resource!
01.16.2011 at5:55 AM #
yunah
do you have a vitamix? i’m thinking of getting one but mulling it over b/c of the price.
i’ve noticed vitamix owners are crazy about them.
01.16.2011 at5:55 AM #
momskitchenhandbook
I do have a Vitamix and am crazy about it. They are an investment, for sure. But it’s the sort of thing you will likely have for a very long time.
05.10.2013 at8:57 AM #
Pam H
I heard Mark Bittman speaking about going vegan (at least partially) and that he uses almond milk instead of yogurt in smoothies. Any thoughts about that? I’ve never used almond milk. Are there different kinds to buy or things I’d need to do to change a smoothie recipe?
05.10.2013 at8:57 AM #
Katie Morford
I like to use different types of milk in my cooking, and almond and soy are the two I probably reach for the most in place of cow’s milk. If you are going to swap out yogurt and use almond milk, be sure to use one that is fortified with Calcium and Vitamin D. Also, check the protein. Yogurt, especially Greek yogurt, will likely have far more protein than almond milk. You also won’t have the good bacteria that comes with yogurt.
08.07.2013 at11:42 AM #
Pavan Sanghera
Thank you for sharing!