Spring is here! Hallelujah! I don’t know about your winters, but winters here in Chicago can be pretty brutal. And with snow and cold I basically become a hermit. It’s not pretty. But today is March 21st…the first official day of spring. I’ve packed away the sweaters, Uggs, riding boots and bulky coats because it’s time to bust out the bathing suits, wedges, dresses and gladiator sandals. Are gladiators in this season? I don’t know. I’m excited right now and I’m getting off track.
Now that spring is here and summer is just around the corner, I need to focus on healthy, energizing recipes. Plus, my BFF Jen recently got engaged (Congrats Jen & Anth! Love you guys!) which makes 3 weddings so far in 2011. Summer + weddings. Hence the healthy smoothie. 
There are so many good things about this smoothie I don’t know where to start. I should make a list.
- It’s a great on-the-go breakfast, midday snack, or after workout snack.
- You can use non-fat greek yogurt; it’s lower in sugar and higher in protein and probiotics than regular. In my opinion, greek yogurt reigns supreme over regular yogurt. Sometimes I use Kefir too, it has different friendly bacterias than yogurt and is very healthy.
- Throw in a green like frozen kale or fresh baby spinach. They’re both super healthy and the fruit completely masks it. Kale is high in vitamins K, A and C, and it has lots of health benefits. Spinach made Popeye strong and it’ll make you strong too. Plus there’s good nutrients in it.
- Adding a heaping scoop of protein powder (I use Gold Standard Whey-Vanilla) is another source of protein.
- You can use frozen fruit; it’s cheap and you don’t need to worry about it rotting in your fridge. I love Trader Joe’s frozen fruit, especially the frozen berries!
- It tastes really really good.
Here's what you'll need
In goes the protein powder. I added about a scoop and a half
Dump in plenty of fruit. I used strawberries, raspberries and pineapple
In goes some nonfat Greek yogurt. I used vanilla.
Frozen kale does a body good
Here we go. At this point you may want to add a little liquid to smooth it out
Looks…healthy!
So refreshing!
Ingredients
frozen (or fresh) fruit such as strawberries, raspberries & pineapple
1 big handful of frozen kale or fresh baby spinach
about a cup of nonfat Greek yogurt
a couple of ice cubes
protein powder (optional)
¼ cup (or so) liquid-water works fine, I used Trader Joe’s Organic Strawberry Lemonade and it tasted amazing.
Directions
Throw fruit, yogurt, ice cubes, protein powder and greens in a blender. Mix it and add liquid as needed to help blend it all together. Sometimes it needs thinning and sometimes it doesn’t.
Source: A Live Love Pasta original
