Vegan Green Smoothie

If you follow me on Pinterest, Twitter or Facebook, you'll know that I am currently going through a small smoothie addiction. I think I've spent every nursing session and nap time devoted to my cooking apps, weeding through wild smoothie recipes to try. After trying several, and reading hundreds, I figured something out: peanut butter and banana masque the taste of vegetables like magic. Lots of the recipes I read called for adding juice, maple syrup, or sugar - not for me. Others called for milk, protein powders, and yogurts; all which I currently can't have (I'm sworn off all dairy), so I had to substitute with soy & almond milk products.

So I think I've got the hang of this smoothie thing, and the endless possibilities there are. But, being weirdo healthy me, I can't bring myself to just have a fruit smoothie. I need something veggie in there. And so, my Vegan Green Smoothie was born, and personally, I think it's pretty fabulous. Better than most green smoothie recipes I tried, and with less fruit too.

Here it is:

1 cup almond milk
1 cup chopped kale
1 cup spinach
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 frozen banana
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon flax seeds
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1/5 chunk firm tofu
added water (or more almond milk) for preferred thickness

I add the milk, kale, and spinach to the blender first, and add everything else once the greens are nice and smooth. You could use almond butter instead of peanut butter, and a vanilla or plain yogurt instead of the tofu. The chia seeds give you a natural burst of energy and with their capacity to absorb 10 x's their weight in water, they keep you nice and full until lunch. If you like a sweeter smoothie, a handful of frozen or fresh blueberries does the trick nicely.