A sweet way to get your greens

Years ago I would make fruit smoothies for breakfast.  They would consist of frozen fruit, vanilla yogurt, and a bit of orange juice.  Sometimes they would be made up of frozen fruit, cooked oatmeal, and milk. One day several years ago I stumbled upon the raw food movement (for those of you not familiar here is a list of blogs devoted to raw foodism) and started slowly adding spinach to my smoothies.  Eventually I ditched the yogurt and juice and made spinach the bulk of the smoothie.  I know what you're thinking "Spinach? In a fruit smoothie? Has she lost her mind?" Trust me on this one. Give it a try. In fruit smoothies you really cannot taste a mild leafy green like spinach.  Below is an example of the current evolved state of my green smoothie.

Wintertime Green Smoothie 

Makes 1-2 servings

1 large apple quartered
1 Tbsp flax seeds
1/4 - 1/2 lb fresh spinach
water

Place apple, flax seeds, and spinach in a blender.  Add just enough water to blend.  Blend on high speed to desired consistency.  Enjoy!

I refer to this particular smoothie as "wintertime" because I like to use apples in the winter.  My favourite summertime combination replaces the apples with blueberries and peaches.  A previous incarnation of this smoothie included 2Tbsp wheat germ and 1Tbsp dates.  The wheat germ was eliminated due to my gluten intolerance and I no longer desire the extra sweetness of the dates. However if these are not issues for you feel free to add them in. Also if the bright green color frightens you start off slowly adding a bit more green over time. If you go browsing the web you'll find many different green smoothie variations.  Here is one that looks pretty sweet :)

P.S. In order to blend up this mixture to a very smooth consistency you need a really good blender (I have a Vitamix). I broke a blender early on while trying to make these smoothies. My current blender can puree whole apples with no problem.