Piña Colada Green Monster

If you like Piña Coladas...

As I mentioned in my last post, I haven’t been feeling well this week and I have been living on a diet of smoothies and toast. I like to keep a wide variety of frozen fruits in my freezer, so that I don’t get bored making the same smoothie every day. Mangos and mixed berries are my “must have” fruits, but every once in a while I bring home some frozen pineapple so that I can make one of these guys. The tropical flavor is a nice pick-me-up, especially at this time of year when the last signs of the Minnesota Winter are an unpleasant reminder that I don’t live in the Bahamas.

What is a Green Monster? It is a smoothie containing greens, most commonly spinach or kale. You may be thinking that this sounds super gross, but hear me now and believe me later…YOU CAN’T TASTE THE GREENS!!! As long as you stick to a couple of green monster guidelines, you too can be sneaking an extra serving of green food into your day with out even noticing. The key is to mask the mild flavor of the greens with bold fruit flavors. I always add a half a banana to my green monsters, because the sweetness hides the spinach taste. Let me state again…YOU WILL NOT TASTE THE GREENS!!!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup to 1 cup of Frozen Pineapple. I like to use less than a cup, because I like a more subtle pineapple flavor.

1/2 can Light Coconut Milk

1/2 Frozen Banana

One big handful of Spinach

To Blend:

Place all ingredients into a blender, starting with the pineapple. Start blender on low speed for up to 30 seconds, then switch to high speed and blend until smooth. If blender gets stuck, add more coconut milk.

Enjoy!…and remember…YOU CAN’T TASTE THE SPINACH!!!

Behind the scenes:

I had a really hard time getting good pictures of this smoothie. It did not want to vogue for my lens. I tried multiple glasses and endless combinations of cocktail umbrellas and straws. Alas, this smoothie just wanted to be consumed, not photographed. You win some, you lose some.