Tropical Green Smoothie

If you had told me even a year ago that I would now love green smoothies, I would have thought you were crazy.

But it’s true. I do!

While juicing and “cleansing” seems to be all the rage these days, we have 4+ years of recipes here to confirm that there is pretty much no way I would ever spend money on little bottles of juice in place of regular meals.

However, I will happily drink all kinds of good fruits and veggies crammed into my own blender.

It’s sort of like hitting the reset button on my stomach. I have one of these for breakfast (sometimes with yogurt too) and I’m feeling pretty darn good.

It’s not just about feeling good, healthy, or even virtuous. Drinking these smoothies is not work or some sort of chore…they’re GOOD!

I currently have 2 green varieties in my smoothie making repertoire, the Kalicious Smoothie which is banana & apple based and this Tropical Green Smoothie that features pineapple & ginger.

Here’s what you need:

Kale, Spinach, Ginger, Banana, Lemon, Pineapple, and Pineapple Juice.

Add Ice to that list if you want your smoothie to be cold.

Click here for a Tropical Green Smoothie Shopping List

If I have it in my potted herb garden, fresh mint is a GREAT addition.

Smoothies are a great way to use up those gnarly looking bananas that you have lying around the kitchen. Break up a banana into the bottom of your blender.

Add ¾-1 cup of pineapple juice. I usually have these little 6 oz. cans (¾ cup) of pineapple juice in the pantry for making Tropical Pork Tacos.

(Psst…if you haven’t tried the pork tacos, you’re missing one of the best recipes on this site.)

Fresh ginger gives a vibrant zing to this smoothie AND is really good for you.

Break off a little knob of ginger, trim away the brown peel, and cut a couple of circles or “coins.”

I use 3 coins because I really like the ginger flavor. However, if you are uncertain start with 1-2 and you can always add more.

Fill ‘er up with greens!

Trim or pull the leafy part of the kale away from the woody stem. Discard the stem and tear the kale leaf into smaller pieces. I didn’t measure but I aim for at least 1 cup of kale.

Add a big handful of baby spinach. Again, about 1 cup as a minimum. If you want more, go ahead and cram it in there.

Squeeze in the juice of 1 lemon. You could also use lime.

Cut up 1 cup of fresh, juicy pineapple and add it to the blender.

Put on the lid and use the most powerful setting on your blender to grind away.

You will probably have to start and stop a few times if you are using a regular blender to shove the greens and pineapple down toward the blade.

Pro Tip – Don’t do this while the blender is running unless you also want ground up spatula in your smoothie.

I just have a regular old blender rather than one of those big industrial ones (not that I don’t covet them at Costco) and it works just fine.

If your smoothie is still not cooperating, add ¼ cup of water or orange juice and try again.

There we go! Whirling green goodness.

You want this smooooooooth so remember to use the most powerful setting (sometimes called chop or grind) on your blender. 

If you want your smoothie cold, you can either plan ahead and have your bananas frozen OR you can add 1 cup of ice and blend until smooth.

If you’re making this in advance, you might want to skip the ice so it doesn’t dilute your smoothie.

There is no exact science to a smoothie. No right or wrong way.

If you just can’t deal with kale, load up on spinach instead. Feel like more citrus? Add a little orange or orange juice.

You could toss other fruit in there too but I’ll warn you that you risk going from green to a rather alarming brownish color pretty quickly.  While I find green smoothies delightful and oddly appetizing, brown ones are not high on my list.

I am already planning to have a Tropical Green Smoothie tomorrow morning.

They’re not just for breakfast either. I often have one of these in the mid afternoon when I need a big energy boost!

What’s in your favorite smoothie?

Have you gone green?

Here’s the recipe:  (Kermit approved)

Tropical Green Smoothie