What’s the fastest way to make yourself a healthy breakfast every morning?
Your blender.
A smoothie comes together in less than five minutes, is infinitely customizable — and if you aren’t sure if your dinner will include vegetables (hello, frozen pizza weeknights) you can make sure your breakfast does.
But how do you drink blended up greens without knowing you’re drinking blended up greens? Throw in some dates.
Medjool dates can take a smoothie from fruit and vegetable puree to something you actually are in the mood for. They’re pretty chewy, so depending on your blender’s strength, they may not be totally incorporated the way your other smoothie ingredients are. A Vitamix or a multi-bladed blender moving at a high speed will usually do the trick on them, but if your blender is old or rickety you may want to chop up the dates and soak them in water for a few hours before using them.
Try it. You’ll be drinking your spinach in no time.
The Peanut Butter and Jelly Green Smoothie
This makes one large smoothie, or two small ones. Layer your blender in this order:
• Two handfuls of baby spinach, washed. Baby spinach incorporates into a fruit smoothie more easily than kale.
• One frozen banana
• A half cup frozen blueberries or one cup frozen strawberries
• One tablespoon peanut butter
• A scoop of vanilla protein powder (optional)
• Two pitted Medjool dates, roughly chopped
• One cup milk of your choice (Unsweetened Almond works great)
Blend, inching up in speed until the color is uniform pink or purple, depending on the berries you’ve used.
Enjoy!
