Green Monster!

Have you heard of the Green Monster?  No, Bostonians, I’m not talking about the Green Monstah, Fenway Park.  I’m talking about this new Green Monster Movement that’s sweeping the nation, or at least some of the blogsphere.  If you haven’t heard about it, don’t feel badly, I hadn’t either, until I read She-Fit’s post about her Green Monster Smoothie.

I know what you’re thinking, a smoothie made from spinach?  How awful does that sound?  Especially for breakfast?  Well let me assure you, it’s delicious.  I knew it would be when I saw the minty-green color of She Fit’s smoothie (see the link above).

The recipe is really simple, although there are tons of variations.  I chose to make the “virgin” Green Monster, just because I didn’t want to fool around too much.  Get it? Virgin?  Didn’t want to fool around? No?  Ok, maybe not.

Ingredients:

(I showed a regular banana in the photo because the frozen banana wasn’t very photogenic, but I definitely used a frozen banana in the recipe).

1 cup (8 fl oz) Almond Breeze
2 cups of fresh spinach
1 frozen banana
6 ice cube
Sweetener like Splenda or Truvia optional

I chose the regular Almond Breeze as opposed to the unsweetened, because for 20 more calories, I’d rather have a bit of sweetness in the smoothie.  This smoothie is very filling, gives you 3 servings of fruits and veggies, 1 serving of milk, and is only 3 points! Plus, it tastes great!  The banana gives it just the right amount of sweetness without being cloyingly sweet. In fact, I didn’t add any Splenda, and I liked it a lot.

One major thing to note is that She Fit highly recommended using fresh spinach, as opposed to frozen.  She said the frozen didn’t break down at all and turned into little chunks.  Sounds disgusting, doesn’t it?  So use FRESH spinach!!!

Directions:

The directions for this are pretty simple.  Put the spinach at the bottom of the blender, then add the frozen banana, Almond Breeze, and the ice cubes.  The heavier items help to weigh down the spinach.

Blend blend blend until it’s at a consistency that you like.

Can you tell that this is an “action shot” that I took while it was blending?

That’s it!  Easy Peasy!

The taste was really fresh and good, but not in an I’m-eating-a-glass of-pureed-spinach kind of way.  In fact, I didn’t taste the spinach at all.  (And I like spinach).   The flavors that were predominant were the almonds and the banana, as it should be.

This smoothie is super-easy to make, and because of all of the fiber and protein, it’s a great way to start the day.  I feel really full and satisfied, and I think it’s going to keep me until lunch.

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