Interesting photo angle. My smoothies appear to be leaning a tad to the left.
The first time I served Mr. Mike a green smoothie, I watched with satisfaction as the expression on his face turned from doubt to pleasure.
Mike was completely convinced the handful of kale I’d stuffed into the blender’s jar would overwhelm his smoothie and he’d be slurping a salad. I insisted he wouldn’t taste the “green,” so he reluctantly gave it a shot.
With complete surprise, Mike finished his smoothie and headed off to work. As much as the words “I told you so!” were on the tip of my tongue, they never escaped my lips.
I have specific criteria for my smoothie recipes. I want a smoothie to pack in a serving of greens, protein, healthy fat, fiber and lots of antioxidants.
- Greens like kale and spinach add fiber and phytonutrients that have an antioxidant effect on the immune system.
- Protein in the form of Greek yogurt or whey protein powder keep me satiated for more than an hour or two.
- Healthy fats like ground flax seed or chia seeds have an abundance of fiber and omega-3 essential fatty acids. They also help the body absorb the nutrients in the greens and fruits.
- Fruits like bananas, berries and stone fruits for their antioxidant properties and essential nutrients like potassium, Vitamin C and folic acid.
All this gets pulverized in my Magic Bullet, then served in a fancy glass just for the fun of it.
I have all my bases covered don’t I?
The only trouble I sometimes encounter is calorie bloat, so I follow the recipe below to keep them in check. This smoothie recipe uses apricots because they are so fragrant and in season, but often times I’ll use 1/2 a banana when summer fresh fruits aren’t available.
Give this green smoothie a try and you’ll be amazed at how energetic you’ll feel!
~Kristi
PrintServing Size: 2 large
Shake It Up! You can replace the fruit in this recipe with any fruit you choose. Spinach makes a good swap for kale.
Ingredients
- 2 cups baby kale
- 2 ea apricots, pitted and halved
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- 2 cups 30 calorie unsweetened almond milk
- 2 tablespoons flaxmeal or chia seeds
- 2 packets stevia if smoothie needs sweetening
Instructions
- Combine ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
Notes
Food energy: 292kcal Saturated fatty acids: 1.86g Monounsaturated fatty acids: 1.29g Polyunsaturated fatty acids: 2.44g Total fat: 5.60g Calories from fat: 50 Cholesterol: 11mg Carbohydrate, by difference: 43.95g Total dietary fiber: 5.73g Protein: 19.36g Total lipid (fat): 6.14g Water: 478.10g Ash: 4.96g Total sugars: 31.32g Calcium: 843mg Iron: 2.08mg Magnesium: 104mg Phosphorus: 523mg Potassium: 1199mg Sodium: 244mg
2.5http://motherrimmy.com/summer-fresh-apricot-blueberry-green-smoothie/Mother Rimmy�s Cooking Light Done Right by Kristin A. Rimkus is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.