green smoothie

Because of St. Patrick’s Day, I’ve been seeing lots of green when it comes to recipes the last few weeks! A lot of them have pistachios as an ingredient, and I love pistachios! So I thought I’d try them in a smoothie. A green smoothie, of course, with a healthy blend of milk, yogurt, honey, frozen banana, baby spinach leaves, and pistachios. It’s a lightly sweet, creamy smoothie that doesn’t taste super-spinachy. If you’re put off by green smoothies, you might want to give this one a try–it has less of a veggie taste than others I’ve had. You do have to do a wee bit of planning ahead to make this by putting a banana (or half of a banana) in the freezer the night before you make it, but otherwise this is super quick and easy to make!

GREEN PISTACHIO SMOOTHIE by NancyC Makes 1 (10-ounce) serving

1/3 to 1/2 cup low-fat milk (or use soy milk; use 1/3 cup if you want a thicker smoothie)

1/3 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt (or use soy yogurt)

1 Tablespoon honey

1/2 medium frozen banana, broken into chunks

1/2 cup well-packed baby spinach leaves

2 Tablespoons coarsely chopped pistachios (plus a little more for sprinkling on top)

In a high-speed blender or food processor, add all ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy. Pour into a glass, top with a light sprinkling of pistachios, and serve. Makes about 10 ounces.

Have you made any green smoothies? Do you have a favorite recipe for one? Hope you are having a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Linked to Let’s Get Real Friday, Inspire Me Monday, Sunday Showcase, Full Plate Thursday.

If you had too much Easter candy last weekend and are craving something healthy, you may want to try this smoothie out! 🙂 This recipe is adapted from a recipe in Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food. It has lots of fresh baby spinach, fresh ginger, and frozen peaches in it. During peach season, you could use fresh peaches (it just won’t be quite as thick, because the frozen fruit helps thicken the smoothie).

This smoothie doesn’t have any dairy products in it. But I didn’t miss the dairy at all. The original recipe uses water, but I thought it was a little bland with water, so I used a peach juice blend instead. I thought this smoothie was really yummy–a very tasty way to up your spinach intake!

GREEN GINGER-PEACH SMOOTHIE by NancyC, adapted from Everyday Food

Makes about 2 (9-ounce) servings

1 cup well-packed baby spinach leaves

1 teaspoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

2 cups frozen sliced peaches

1 to 2 teaspoons honey

1 1/4 cups peach juice blend (I used Dole® Orange Peach Mango Juice)

Add all ingredients in blender and mix until well-blended (you may have to help stir the mixture along with a spoon at first). Serve immediately. Makes about 18 ounces, or 1 to 2 servings.