Secret Ingredient Smoothies
Super healthy fruit smoothies to get your day started right!
This is sure to become one of your favorite fruit smoothie recipes. It's so sweet you'll never believe what the secret ingredient is.
Frozen pineapple, orange juice, blueberries, oreo cookies and vanilla yogurt make this one of the sweetest and tastiest fruit smoothies you'll ever make. But the secret ingredient -- spinach! -- makes it one of the healthiest, too.
When you serve these fruit smoothies to the kids, call them Oreo Milkshakes. Then watch them drink these smoothies in two seconds flat. The amount of spinach in these fruit smoothies is small enough that they won't be able to taste it. But it packs quite a nutritional punch.
As you may know, many fruit smoothie recipes aren't as healthy as they seem. But this one offers 32% of the recommended daily value for Vitamin A,110% of the RDV for Vitamin C, 28% of the RDV for calcium and 10% of the RDV for iron. To be sure, this fruit smoothie offers nearly a day's worth of nutrition in a single glass!
The idea for the secret ingredient came from Missy Chase Lapine's book The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods In Kids' Favorite Meals . In fact, the recipe for the Purple Puree (below) is hers. You'll only need one-third of a cup for this recipe. So save the rest in the fridge for her Brainy Brownies or another use.
Secret Ingredient Fruit Smoothies
- 1-1/2 cups frozen unsweetened pineapple
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1/3 cup Purple Puree (recipe below)
- 1/3 cup non-fat vanilla yogurt
- 2 chocolate sandwich cookies (such as Newman's Own or organic Oreos)
Combine all the ingredients in the order listed a Vita-Mix, blender or food processor, and puree until smooth. Serve immediately.
Makes 2 servings.
Per serving: 230 calories, 2 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 2 mg cholesterol, 47 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 5 g protein, 32% vitamin A, 110% vitamin C, 28% calcium, 10% iron
Purple Puree
- 3 cups raw baby spinach or 2 cups frozen chopped spinach or frozen chopped collard greens
- 1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened blueberries
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
- 3-4 Tbsp. water
If using raw spinach, wash and dry it thoroughly (even if it's triple-washed, bagged spinach). Bring the spinach and water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Turn the heat down to low and allow to simmer, 10 minutes.
Rinse and drain blueberries. Place blueberries, cooked spinach, lemon juice and 2 Tbsp. of water in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blad. Process on high until smooth, stopping occasionally if necessary to scrape the bowl. Add the rest of the water if necessary, to make a smooth puree.
Yield: 1 cup puree.
For more healthy fruit smoothie recipes, see also:
- Antioxidant Smoothies
- Cherry Berry Smoothie Recipe
- Chocolate Banana Smoothies
- Strawberry Smoothies
- Super Food Smoothies
