This strawberry Swiss chard smoothie is a variation of my Vegan Breakfast Smoothie Formula. I make my fourteen-year-old daughter a smoothie every morning before school and try to create a slightly different version each time. (In the summer she’s on her own. When she rises mid-morning she appears to favor a hearty brunch that usually includes peanut butter and banana on a gluten-free bagel.)
My twenty-year-old son is a recent smoothie convert. I finally convinced him to give up sugary cereal for breakfast. He makes himself a smoothie each morning before he heads out to his summer job. Aside from liking the taste, I think he appreciates how he can easily take his breakfast on the road when he’s running late.
I’m not willing to give up my morning oatmeal, so I usually enjoy a good smoothie as an afternoon snack. This strawberry Swiss chard smoothie is a great pick-me-up at about 3:00 pm.
Another food blogger recently shared how she challenged herself to eat one smoothie a day and one salad a day for the month of June. I thought this sounded like a great idea. I might try a similar approach for the summer months.
Raw foods like smoothies and salads are great options when hot weather hits. Preparing them doesn’t heat up the kitchen and they are usually quick and easy to make. They also pack a nutritional punch.
Strawberry Swiss Chard Smoothie
There are probably a gazillion smoothie recipes floating around the Internet. There are so many possibilities!
I always try to include some dark leafy greens in my smoothies. I picked up a lovely bunch of chard from my local farm buying club – so that’s what inspired this strawberry Swiss chard smoothie. If fresh greens aren’t readily available, I use frozen greens. I always keep frozen spinach, kale and/or collard greens on hand just in case.
This strawberry Swiss chard smoothie recipe includes just a few ingredients:
- Fortified Organic Rice Milk
- Banana
- Swiss chard
- Frozen strawberries
- Almonds
- Shredded coconut
The Swiss chard adds just a hint of “green” flavor that combines well with the sweet taste of strawberries and coconut.
Strawberry Swiss Chard Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice milk or choice of plant milk
- 1 small banana
- 3-4 leaves Swiss chard - stems removed
- ½ cup frozen sliced strawberries
- 1 Tbsp. sliced almonds
- 1 Tbsp. shredded coconut unsweetened
Instructions
- Place ingredients in a high-speed blender in the order they are listed.
- Begin blending on lowest setting and slowly turn up to highest setting.
- Blend on high for approximately 30 seconds
- Serve immediately.
Note: I do not include nutrition information with my recipes because I subscribe to the theories presented in the book Whole and believe we should focus on eating a variety of whole foods instead of counting calories or keeping track of individual nutrients.
Ann Onymous
Looks good. I have half a strawberry banana soy smoothie left in the frig and think I'll add a few chard leaves, a handful of walnuts and coconut milk for consistency.
Jerilea
Just stumbled across this. I'm a vendor at a farmers.market and its looking like i will hace some chard left at the end of the day. This will be perfect to try...have all the ingredients just gotta give it a whirl.
Margaret
Enjoy!