The Inner Beauty of Green Smoothies

Let’s face it, not all food is pretty to look at.  I think that food bloggers must be more acutely aware of this than most, because ugly-looking food is almost guaranteed to result in ugly-looking pictures (especially if, like me, you have a hard enough time taking decent blog photos to begin with!).

That doesn’t stop me from taking the pictures though, especially when the subject is something that has so many wonderful nutritional qualities and benefits that it would be a terrible shame not to share it with my readers.

Today I’m sharing with you two not-so-pretty smoothies that nonetheless taste amazing and are amazing for you!

Both of these are technically green smoothies since they contain leafy greens, but neither of them actually came out of the blender with that attractive, vibrant green hue that you’d normally associate with a greenie.

1) Bananaberry Bliss Smoothie
Ingredients: 1-1.25 cup warm water (I find this thaws the fruit just slightly and makes blending easier), 1 frozen banana, 1/2 cup frozen strawberry slices, 1/2 cup frozen peach slices, 1 cup fresh spinach.  Place the ingredients in the blender in order shown and give them a whirl.

This antioxidant powerhouse smoothie is only 173 calories, with no fat, 3g protein, and 8g fiber.  It also provides 10% of your RDA for iron, 5% calcium, 9% Vitamin E, 59% Vitamin A, and 40% Vitamin B6.  Note: I got these numbers by plugging the smoothie’s ingredients into a nutrition calculator.  Also, RDA varies from person to person, depending on your daily calorie needs.

But it’s not pretty.  Rather than the lovely purple-blue hue I had envisioned, I got more of a murky brownish-red with some strange frothiness going on up top:

2) Strawberry-Peach Samba Smoothie
Ingredients: 1-1 1/4 cup warm water, 1 frozen banana, 1/2 cup whole frozen strawberries, 1/2  cup frozen peach slices, 1/2 cup frozen rainbow chard (or substitute other fresh or frozen greens of choice).  Blend ’em up good.

The nutrition data for this smoothie shows 182 calories, no fat, 4g protein, and 8g fiber.  It also provides 16% RDA iron, 7% calcium, 3% Vitamin E, 115% Vitamin A, and 35% Vitamin B6.  See note above regarding nutrition info.

Yet again, on the outside it is pretty hideous.  It is green-ish, but more like the color of a muddy olive than of a beautiful bunch of rainbow chard.  In fact the photo makes it look better than it actually did in real life.
Yeah, I’m still totally loving my homemade portable smoothie jar.  And yeah, the smoothie names are kinda cheesy but I like them so they stay 🙂

The moral of the story is that, as I hope the nutrition data above makes clear, these smoothies are full of beautiful ingredients, vitamins and minerals.  They also taste really, really good.  So who cares what they look like?   Starting the day off with one is a terrific move for your health and energy.   

Enjoy!!