green monster smoothie

I know what you’re thinking. Spinach? In a SMOOTHIE?!?! Surely this girl is outside her mind. Surely she doesn’t want us to put SPINACH in a SMOOTHIE. Surely smoothies come from Boost Juice or New Zealand Natural, have frozen yoghurt/sorbet in them, berries and mango and passionfruit. And banana. Surely smoothies have banana in them.

Not this one.

I have a not so secret that I may have in fact shared with you before: I don’t like bananas. I like banana bread, banana muffins, banana cake (yes, all variations on the same theme) I like the look of bananas and I certainly like the idea of bananas but put a banana in front of me and it’ll stay there, until it gets brown and squishy and I can mix it with butter and sugar and flour and eggs without feeling guilty that I’m jonesing on someones banana Nirvana.

So this smoothie has no bananas in it but if you are not like me and actually like the taste of bananas in your smoothie (I hear it’s quite common) then you can go ahead and add one. Freeze it first, if you like.

But for me, I will take my peach and my orange, my spinach, frozen grapes and milk and have me one hell of a good smoothie. It’s amazing how good you can feel after ingesting a smoothie. They just make everything feel ok, you know?

Green Monster Smoothie

This recipe is infinitely adaptable, as you can tell from comparing my version to its inspiration over at Joy the Baker and Shutterbean. Have banana. Don’t add peach. Vegan? No big deal, use orange juice instead of milk. Or almond milk. (You can even make your own). Add berries, mango, passionfruit. Whatever takes your fancy.

Serves 1

1 handful spinach (mine was frozen. Yours doesn’t need to be)

1/2 peach, chopped

1 orange, peeled, pith removed

bunch frozen grapes

1/2 cup milk

Place all ingredients into body of blender. Blend on lowest speed, add more liquid if necessary. Blend until all lumps are gone. Pour into a smoothie glass and drink from a straw. Feel immensely healthy.