Strawberry, Banana, and Spinach Smoothie

I feel like a total cliche sharing a green smoothie as my first post of the new year, but I don’t care. After taking my first sip of this drink, I couldn’t wait to tell you guys about it!

See here’s the thing – I’ve tried many green smoothies in the past. If you’ve never had one, the big draw is that they all promise you can’t taste the spinach (or whatever greens are used) so it’s a great way to incorporate more veggies into your diet. While I generally agreed that you couldn’t taste the spinach in any of the ones I tried, I still didn’t love them. Certainly nowhere near enough that I’d want to drink one multiple times a week.

But this strawberry, banana, and spinach smoothie? It’s a winner! I’ll be the first to admit it lacks the pretty vibrant green color of so many of the others, but what really matters to me is the taste. And seriously, this smoothie tastes like a strawberry banana milkshake – it’s so thick and creamy! It includes frozen strawberries, half a banana, an apple, baby spinach, just a little bit of nonfat honey Greek yogurt and some unsweetened coconut milk beverage. Even without any added sugar, the strawberries give this smoothie the perfect amount of sweetness.

The recipe makes two servings so I’ve been having one for breakfast and the other after my workout in the afternoon. I am seriously obsessed with it 🙂 I love that each serving comes in at only about 115 calories too. It definitely feels more indulgent than that, and keeps me full for quite a while.

My only caveat about this awesome smoothie is that a powerful blender is almost essential to getting it done. My blender couldn’t handle it so I wound up getting things started in my food processor and then transferred the mixture back to the blender to finish it off. It’s a great workaround aside from the fact that you now have to wash two appliances instead of one. Still totally worth it for a healthy, delicious, and nutrient-packed breakfast or snack, but next year I’m asking Santa for a new blender 🙂

Strawberry, Banana, and Spinach Smoothie
adapted from Feel Good Food by Giada de Laurentiis

{Note: you could probably use a variety of apples here, but I wouldn’t go with a Granny Smith. You could also substitute water for the coconut milk beverage.}

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk beverage
1/4 cup nonfat honey Greek yogurt
1 medium apple, peeled, cored, and chopped (I used Fuji)
1 cup frozen sliced strawberries
1/2 medium ripe banana
1 cup packed baby spinach leaves

In a blender, combine all of the ingredients. Blend until smooth. Serve immediately or save the second serving to enjoy later in the day.

Serves 2