However, I've been getting into making smoothies for breakfast each morning (more smoothie recipes to come!), so I knew I'd have to confront this fear eventually. Moreover, I realized as I was mixing blueberries and blackberries in a smoothie, I've made and enjoyed smoothies every color of the rainbow except green. Why was I discriminating against the green smoothies?! So I swallowed my fear and focused on making a delicious green smoothie.

I first decided to add pineapple and orange. And not only do they have strong flavors, they're also loaded with vitamins and minerals. 1 cup of pineapple has over 100% of your daily vitamin C, and about 10% of your daily vitamin B1, vitamin B6 and fiber! Similarly, 1 medium orange has almost 100% of your daily vitamin C and over 10% of your daily fiber! I also added a banana, a potassium-filled, high fiber fruit. And some hemp seeds and chia seeds - so many nutritional benefits. And my final ingredient, spinach. Don't get me wrong, I normally love spinach (and just about all fruits and vegetables), but spinach in a smoothie was scary.


But you know what? It was delicious. You truly can't taste any of the green-ness. At first I just put a little spinach in and found it had no affect on the flavor of the smoothie. The next time I made the smoothie, I put in a little more - still no affect on the flavor. So I was adventurous and put in a lot of spinach (I guess I wanted to push the limit), and still no affect on the flavor. But don't take my word for it, try it yourself! If you're really scared, started by adding a few spinach leaves at a time. This is great especially if you don't like spinach because it's so good for you and you won't even know you're drinking it!

So in summary, this smoothie is delicious, packed with nutrient and...oh and did I mention this smoothie kept me full for hours? And don't worry about exact measurements, smoothies are so forgiving. Try this power smoothie, you'll love it!

Green Power Smoothie

Yield: 1 | Prep time: 1 minute | Total time: 2 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 cup fresh pineapple
• 1 banana
• 1 cup packed spinach
• 1 Tbsp. chia seeds
• 1 Tbsp. hemp seeds