About a year ago, I learned about green smoothies watching The Chef and the Dietitian videos, and now it’s rare that I make a smoothie that doesn’t have something green in it.

Sound gross? It’s not if you make it right. The key is the use milder tasting greens, like baby spinach (many people like to use kale or dandelion greens), as well as using frozen ripe bananas and plenty of frozen fruit. A healthy dose of cocoa powder doesn’t hurt either.

I had the hardest time getting a decent picture of this thing – I’m not the one with the photography skills around here! I threw some raw cacao nibs on top of mine for extra awesomeness. Did you know that 1 ounce of cacao nibs has over 300% of your daily needs for iron? Take that, red meat!

I’ve been having a green smoothie for breakfast every day for the last month, and I love it! It’s a great way to get a tons of healthy foods into your diet first thing in the morning. This is the recipe I’ve developed to suit my tastes. These measurements are approximate – feel free to modify as needed. And just so you know, I don’t have a fancy Vitamix – my blender’s an Osterizer from Target, so you don’t even need any out-of-the-ordinary equipment!

And if you are not yet brave enough to make your own green smoothies, Spiral Diner has some excellent ones on their Blue Plate menu right now!

Can’t Taste the Greens Smoothie

• 1 cup almond milk (or other vegan milk – I use unsweetened Almond Breeze)
• 4 pitted soft medjool dates (soaked at least 1 hour if dried) OR 2-1/2 tablespoons maple syrup or coconut palm sugar
• handful fresh spinach (or kale or dandelion greens)
• 1-2 tablespoons flax seed meal or hemp seeds
• 1 frozen, sliced ripe banana
• 1-2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 cup frozen blueberries and/or strawberries
• 1/3 cup crushed ice (optional)
• More almond milk, as needed

Place the milk, dates, spinach, flax, cocoa and banana in a blender and process until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until completely smooth. If the smoothie has trouble turning over in the blender, add more milk, a little at a time, until it processes completely. You may also need to stop the blender completely and stir the mixture around, since the frozen fruit can get stuck together sometimes.

And for you Fort Worth folks, I’ve found that Sprouts has the best medjool dates – the ones I’ve bought there are super soft and blend excellently. You can buy pre-packed bulk ones in their bulk section. Check the date on the label and buy the freshest ones you can find – older ones tend to be drier! Your smoothies will be better for it!