Green Smoothie with Spinach, Almond Butter, & Dates

As noted in a recent post, a trend I’ve observed among the spring 2019 cookbooks is plant-based cooking. I’ve seen lots of vegetarian riffs on classic meaty dishes — buffalo cauliflower, moo shu vegetable wraps — and vegetables and legumes in general comprising the bulk of main course meals: zucchini noodle pad see ew, chickpea chopped salad, black bean and quinoa burgers.

Several of them bring a strong smoothie game, too, and two in particular — Healthier Together and Well + Good — have totally transformed my blending routine.

A few weeks ago, I shared the coffee smoothie recipe from Well + Good, which I’m still making and loving. 

But I’ve been loving another one, too. In Healthier Together, Liz Moody offers a simple framework for making green smoothies and says the secret to making a smoothie truly filling, is to pack it with with healthy fats and protein. Feeling inspired, I started adding spinach, hemp seeds (a fat and a protein), and chia seeds (also a fat and a protein) to my longtime favorite smoothie recipe: Violet’s Big Blueberry Smoothie.

If you’ve ever added spinach (and perhaps other greens) to your smoothie, you know that the spinach essentially disappears, imparting a very subtle vegetal flavor. I found my new vegetable-packed smoothie just as satisfying as before with the added bonus of keeping me fuller longer.

After several weeks of making spinach + blueberry smoothies, I swapped out the blueberries all together for a heap (3 ounces!) of spinach instead. And to compensate for the missing sweetness lent by the berries, I added a date. Without the berries in the mix, this combination whirls into a vibrant green hue. It’s delicious, nutritious, and satisfying. Here’s the basic formula:

Green Smoothie Formula

• 1 banana, sliced and frozen
•  a heap of spinach
• almond milk or milk of choice
• almond butter or nut butter of choice
• 1 date
• pinch of sea salt
• optional add-ins: chia and/or hemp seeds
• ice

Friends, are you into green smoothies? If so, what do you add to yours?

Green Smoothie with Spinach, Almond Butter, & Dates

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• Author: Alexandra Stafford
• Total Time: 5 minutes
• Yield: 1 smoothie

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Description

A few tips/notes:

• I’ve gotten in the habit of slicing bananas and freezing them in an airtight container. I lay a sheet of parchment paper over the slices of one whole banana, so I know how much to use for each smoothie.
• Nut butter: use what you like. I always buy/use salted.
• Depending on the size of the Medjool dates, you may only need one. If you like things a little sweeter, you may need two. You may not need them at all. My blender is old and does not do a great job whirring ingredients into a smooth purée, dates in particular. If you have the time, you can soak the dates in the almond milk, which softens them and makes them purée more smoothly. I do this first thing in the morning: pour a cup of almond milk into a 1-cup liquid measure; break up my date and drop it in. (UPDATE: I splurged on a Vitamix, which makes the whirring process a whole lot easier.)
• I bought hemp seeds on a whim after reading about them in books and blogs, and I now add a tablespoon to each smoothie. Hemp is a good source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, contains iron, magnesium, and vitamin E, and is a complete protein.
• Chia seeds. I always have chia seeds on hand because of this muesli, but I now add a tablespoon of chia seeds to each smoothie as well. Chia seeds have a high amount of omega 3 fatty acids, fiber, minerals, and are also a complete protein.

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Ingredients

• 1 banana, sliced and frozen (unfrozen is fine, too)
• handful of ice
• 1 tablespoon almond butter or other nut butter
• pinch sea salt
• 1 Medjool dates, pitted and torn into pieces, see notes above
• 2 to 4 ounces spinach (I use 4 ounces)
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk or milk of choice, plus more as needed
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds, optional
• 1 tablespoon hemp seeds, optional

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Instructions

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. If blender gets stuck, stop it, jostle the ingredients with a knife, and purée again. If smoothie is too thick, add water or more almond milk till the purée is the consistency you like.

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Category: Drink
• Method: Blender
• Cuisine: American