Mom, What Kind of Greens Should I Add to the Smoothie? (Chard, Banana, and Cherry Smoothie)

What did I just hear? Did my daughter just ask me about putting greens in her smoothie? Ahh, music to my ears as they say!

When I first started making green smoothies earlier this year my daughters (3 and 11) thought it was great, and drank them regularly and happily. Then the novelty wore off, and they started wondering if we had to put greens in every smoothie. I very relunctantly let them choose for themselves while I continued to make green smoothies for myself. Sometimes one or both of the girls would request some of my smoothie after I had already made it, and I was happy to share, but in general they preferred their “fruit only” smoothies.

Occasionally I would hear an exclamation of disbelief such as, “This has greens in it?” I paid attention to those comments, and found it often happened with stronger fruit flavors such as the cherries that are currently popular in our home.

One day after school my daughter Megan decided to make her own smoothie. (She was happy to take pictures after she finished her creation.) I was in the other room working when I did indeed hear her ask what greens she should put in her smoothie. After I recovered from such a shock, I recommended the wonderful fresh Rainbow Chard we had at the time. Spinach would have also been a great choice.

Megan made her green smoothie and then she enjoyed eating it while I enjoyed the fact that it was her choice to make nutrition as important as taste. And then we had fun with photos!

You may notice that this smoothie doesn’t exactly look green?

I do not know if it is a coincidence that the girls prefer smoothies that are as much red (or blue) as they are green. It’s the juicy berries or cherries that will take the color more red, or in the case of blueberries, blue. It stills depends on the amount and variety of greens used, but if enough very red juicy berries or cherries are used, the color will not be bright green. Our favorite recipe lately uses some regional frozen pie cherries.

Kid-Friendly and Not Too-Green Green Smoothie:

• One very ripe banana
• 2 large rainbow chard leaves
• 1 heaping cup frozen cherries*
• enough water to blend

Blend and enjoy! Giggles add to the fun.

*If you do not have a high-powered blender you may want to let any frozen fruit thaw for awhile before blending. I highly recommend never using all frozen fruit without a high powered blender. However, you can simply take the fruit from the freezer to the refrigerator the night before in order to be ready to quickly make your morning smoothie.

Due to parental fairness rules in our home I also need to share with you that Nessa (3) also enjoys an occasional green smoothie. And due to my own full-disclosure policy, I need to tell you that she doesn’t realize this particular smoothie has greens in it. She used to love intentionally turning any smoothie green with LOTS of leafy greens, but while green is still her favorite color she soon realized that mom loved it when she drank green smoothies, and promptly decided she no longer likes them. (Please tell me that I am not the only one with a child like this)

I decided to partake in the long-standing tradition of mothers everywhere by “hiding veggies.” I simply threw a few greens in the blender when she wasn’t looking. If you have been wanting to try green smoothies, but haven’t been able to bring yourself to put leafy greens in your blender, maybe you could ask someone to play the mother role and sneak it in your next fruity smoothie!

~Tami