Green Smoothies for St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day is a good time to toss aside prejudices that fruit smoothie lovers harbor for green, plant based smoothies.

Typical smoothie lovers like their smoothies icy and fruity with tropical colors other than seaweed. The green smoothie craze has been a hard one to adapt to because the crispness of vegetables and the soft, pliability of fruit, not to mention its sweet taste, are contradictions.

Alas, St. Patrick's Day couldn't be a better day to celebrate the health food craze on campuses, in the office, and at cocktail parties everywhere. Spinach and kale aren't the only green things that have taken over the green smoothie craze. There are smoothie recipes with avocado and cucumbers out there too.

The key is to mix the ingredients so that there's a sweetness to it. Many of these smoothie recipes from food sites around the web mix fruit with the greens.

Cucumber-Pear

1 cucumber
2 pears
2 cups fresh baby spinach (or other leafy green)
1/2 cup of water

Peel, seed and chop cucumbers. Blend with chopped pears, onc cup of ice, spinach and water.

(incrediblesmoothies.com)

Avocado Smoothie

1 ripe avocado, halved and pitted
1 1/4 cups of whole milk
1 1/2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice
1 tblsp of sugar
1 tblsp of fresh, chopped basil

Scoop the flesh from the avocado into a blender. Add milk, lime juice, sugar, and chopped basil; purée. Add 1 cup ice; purée until smooth.
Divide between 2 chilled glasses and garnish with thinly sliced basil.

(bonappetit.com)

Kale Slushy

Combine
2 chopped stemmed kale leaves,
2 cups chopped fresh pineapple,
1 peeled kiwi, and
1/4 cup (loosely packed) fresh mint leaves in a blender. Add ice and enough water to cover; purée until smooth.

(bonappetit.com)

Spinach Smoothie

Needed: 1 lime, coconut milk, 1 granny smith apple, baby spinach, yogurt, ice cubes. Optional: mint leaves.

Directions: For the green layer mix 2 cups spinach (2 giant handfuls works), 1/2 cup coconut milk, 4 ice cubes, 1/2 a granny smith apple (chopped) and the juice of 1 lime. Blend together and add to cup. Rinse your blender and then combine 1/4 cup coconut milk, 1/2 cup yogurt (green yogurt or vanilla yogurt work great), 1/2 a granny smith apple (chopped) and 2-5 fresh mint leaves if you like mint! Blend, add to your glass and garnish with an apple slice.

Note: This smoothie is refreshing and a little tart. If you like your smoothies extra sweet, try adding a teaspoon of Truvia to each layer before blending. Spinach is the easiest green to blend in a sweeter smoothie, but if you don't mind the "green" taste try baby kale next time!

(bonappetit.com).