This recipe for a simple green smoothie is wicked nutritious and tasty to boot. And it takes only TWO ingredients (not including water). All you need are a blender, baby spinach, banana and drinking water.
How many times have you heard a life or fitness guru talk about the smoothie or juice they drink every day? Maybe you even drive to the store to buy the flax seeds and avocados and fresh young coconuts, and end up spending half your paycheck? Yeah. The worst part, in my opinion, is just that I don’t always have the ingredients on hand.
But this smoothie is the pared-down, streamlined, ergonomic and aerodynamic smoothie for the busy—and possibly a little behind on bills and shopping—woman.
This smoothie is based on a simple formula: spinach for nutrition, banana for sweetness and body. I drink these (almost) every day because I always have both ingredients on hand. But mostly, it’s the easiest way to get a salad’s worth size of greens in my body, costing the calories of only a banana (100 calories). And of course you can add ingredients to spice it up. I’ll get to that soon enough.
Green Monster Smoothie Recipe.
1 serving
- 1 banana
- 1 handful of baby spinach
- 1/2 cup of water
Blend all the ingredients together until it’s as smooth as possible (no leaf pieces—ech, pooey pooey). You might want to add ice, either in the blender or afterwards to cool it down.
I’m very loose with the ingredients. Basically, if you want it a little sweeter make the ratio have more banana to less spinach, and if you want it less sweet, add more spinach. I do NOT recommend adding sweetener because…then it’s not a smoothie anymore. It’s dessert. The banana is plenty sweet on its own. Dates are also a great add-on that has added sweetener.
Also, some people prefer ice over water; I do not. It doesn’t blend as well, it’s obnoxiously loud and it gives me brain freeze. However, feel free to substitute the water with ice, either partially or fully.
Possible add-ons to the Green Monster Smoothie.
In no way am I responsible if any of these are gross. However, right now they sound pretty good. I have personally tried cocoa powder, which works as long as you tweak down the spinach count so it doesn’t taste like leaves. I’ve also added cilantro and spearmint, both with success.
- Almond butter
- Cocoa powder or cacao nibs
- Other herbs: basil, mint, cilantro
- Other greens: arugula, dandelion greens, baby kale
- Cinnamon
- Vanilla (vanilla bean or a type of natural flavoring (not extract))
- Dates
- Other berries: blueberries, strawberries
- A nut milk instead of water (coconut, almond, macademia, cashew)
- Coconut water instead of water
There! You did it! You just got a nutrition and flavor bomb that satisfies a whole serving of greens (maybe more—I have no idea).
This would work great in the morning if you want a little energy before your workout without interfering with digestion. It would also work as a pick-me-up in the afternoon.
Give it a try!
