I’m feeling a bit sheepish. Based on the number of smoothie recipes I’ve shared in the past few weeks I’m waiting to be asked if this is still Boulder Locavore’s blog or if perhaps it’s turned into ‘Smoothies-R-Us’. It IS still Boulder Locavore and I’m just having some impulse control issues around sharing these fantastically delicious combinations of fruits and vegetables I’ve found to make smoothies.
In my wildest dreams I would never have imagined blending up leafy greens could taste so good. I have expected dense, ‘healthy-tasting’ drinks; the type you know are good for you but you suffer through, hoping they don’t encounter your taste buds on the way down. You know what I’m talkin’ about, right?
I mentioned in a prior post when I shared The Green Zinger Smoothie that my 10 year old son has jumped onto the green smoothie wagon and makes one every day after school. We don’t use recipes but rather combine what strikes one’s fancy. He starts every smoothie with fresh ginger. He loves the flavor and probably has no awareness about how fantastic it is for one’s health especially at this time of year.
Last week he put together a smoothie that was so delicious and what I noticed was that the flavors of banana and ginger together are really good. Not something I’d ever think to do but after drinking his combination it gave my culinary muse some inspiration that turned into this Cheeky Monkey Smoothie. It’s not complicated but rich with banana, ginger, some pineapple and kale. I’ve decided kale is the perfect leafy green for smoothies in that it produces a fantastic green color, delivers a rich variety of vitamins and minerals, and is very mild (I might even say nondescript) in flavor. Adding ‘super greens’ power packs this smoothie with even more health benefits but doesn’t overpower the rest of the ingredients in terms of flavor. When using super greens, using the baby variety of the green is dense with nutrition, softer to blend and doesn’t include some of the more bitter flavors that can be present when the individual variety of greens are older.
Try these Smoothie Recipes too!
The Cheeky Monkey Smoothie
Ingredients
- Juice of ½ Lime
- 1 medium Banana
- 1 teaspoon fresh Ginger , peeled and rough chopped
- 3 medium Kale leaves (without stem), torn into pieces
- ½ cup fresh Pineapple , rough chopped
- 1 cup ‘Super Greens’ (these can be purchased in the salad area already prepared or mixed at home by combining baby red chard, baby tat soi, baby spinach, baby green Swiss chard, and/or baby arugula)
- ½ cup filtered Water
Instructions
- Place water in a blender followed by the other ingredients.
- Blend until smooth.
Nutrition
Stacy Dhein says
After a tooth extraction, every one needs balanced neutrional intake. This is perfect. I will continue to use this and probably many others of Toni’s daily. I am vegan and very bored with long preparation in a hot climate. Thank you Toni Dash.
Toni Dash says
Yikes Stacy! So sorry about the tooth extraction but we do have many smoothies to help you through! You can certainly swap in ingredients to support full vegan recipes too if they aren’t that way already. Heal soon!
Nina says
Love the name!
marla says
Awesome smoothie & such CUTE presentation too!!
Brooks says
Toni, I adored this from the moment I saw it on G+ yesterday. So in coming back today for a closer look, I smiled to learn your son is the mastermind behind this having been inspired by one of yours. Yes, there are several green ingredients one hopes won’t mingle with taste buds going down the hatch, but baby kale seems to be the exception. Lovely post!
Toni Dash says
Happy New Year Brooks! So glad you hopped by. My son has actually come up with combinations I’d never expect; I’m sure the mad science part of the process appeals to him! This smoothie is delicious and I think I never would have realized how great banana and fresh ginger are together without it!