Blackberry + Swiss Chard Smoothie
I may have a slight obsession with green smoothies. I love them. I can't get enough of them as long as they taste good. I have been in a great habit of making them most days with lunch. I have an arsenal of different Spinach smoothies, and refreshing blended Kale green drinks, but Swiss Chard is not one of those greens you see blended up everyday, and probably for good reason. It tastes dirty. Sorry, chard, but it is what it is. I wanted to make this one even though because it had enough "stuff" in it to overtake the dirtiness. Plus when else do I consume such a large amount of swiss chard along with a whole apple, and tons of good for you blackberries? We need more blackberries in our diets, plus the vitamin C in the berries helps the body to properly absorb all the iron in the greens. Win-win!
I had my friend Melissa over for a multiple course smoothie lunch the other day. Sounds fun right? Three different types, tons of vitamins and minerals and fiber and greens and antioxidants and good fats. It was so fun and awesome...until the great gut bomb of 2013 set in. Ever do that? Totally in the zone, thinking something is totally cool until you realize it's just so not...
Like when you are listening to Radiohead's song "Creep" in the kitchen when you realize -too late- that they say the F-word and your oldest kid totally heard it and you remind yourself what a stellar mother you are while rushing to press the pause button. Creep is a bad song to listen to with kids around even without the F-word, so double shame on me. Sometimes all judgement flies out the window and I just want to slowly jam and sway and sing "I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo, What the hell am I doing here? I don't belong here" between sautéing and slicing. Suddenly I'm in 6th grade gym class in awful red shorts and Katie McCaron has shin splints and Scott Cannistraci is the cutest boy in school.
Just promise me you'll learn from our mistake. Combining that many foods in one sitting is not a good idea. Pick one smoothie and stick with it. Lesson learned. This chard and blackberry smoothie was not among the ones we made that day, so let me explain how we arrive here. The day after our smoothie blowout, Melissa reported that she made her usual savory green smoothie that morning and could not bring herself to drink it. She didn't know if she could ever eat spinach again. I felt similar and avoided anything green that day. However, the next day, because Melissa is one of the awesomest people on the planet, she arranged for me to leave with her to Denver for pedicures and tea at one of my favorite places in the world, The Brown Palace, to celebrate the new baby's impending arrival. It was my own special baby shower. She's a very good friend to me, you see. Our eating that day consisted of prime rib quesadillas, shrimp cocktail, Darjeeling black tea with milk and sugar, scones with devonshire cream and strawberry jam, tartlets of different variety, dainty tea sandwiches and a whole lot of nothing green.
And here, you have a prime example as to why you shouldn't be too extreme on either front. All that overload of sugary sweet, decadent food left me craving healthy green stuff again today. Melissa got a kale cucumber juice, and I picked the chard. I just went for it. And it was really, really good and light, even though it filled me right up. I usually steer clear of smoothies with grapes in them only because they are so high in sugar, but I figure a little natural sugar to get all that goodness in one glass is completely worth it.
Blackberry + Swiss Chard Smoothie
adapted from Green Smoothie Revolution via Higgins-McFarland Family Blog
1/2 head of Swiss Chard (I used rainbow chard, and 1/2 a head was two and a half monster sized leaves that filled up half my blender. I removed the tough rib down the center and discarded it)
1 sweet apple, chopped
1/2 cup green grapes
1 cup frozen blackberries
1/2 a banana
4 ice cubes
1/2 cup water
You'll want to use a powerful blender and blend on high until completely combined.