Swiss Date Shake & the Green Equation

For a myriad of reasons including their unparalleled alkalizing power, we're pretty big fans of the Green Smoothie around here. And because we kick off a large percentage of our days with them we use a basic formula to come up with new combos and keep our taste buds guessing:

Greens + Creamy + Liquid + Protein + A touch of Sweet or Spicy = Alkalizing Tasty Way to Start the Day

Keeping this equation in mind rather than a specific recipe allows for easy modifications with the change of seasons. It also encourages us to be creative with whatever looks freshest in the produce section.  

Over the weekend we found some Swiss Chard that was calling our name with it's brilliant red and green and we knew it would be the Green part of the equation. Chards tend to result in a smoother smoothie than say, kale because of their higher water content. For the same reason, they also have a milder flavor and work exceedingly well for Green Smoothies.

• Avocados are often our go-to for the Creamy factor and blend nicely with sweet or savory smoothies. 
• For this batch our Liquid was unsweetened coconut water + a whole cucumber giving us the benefit of added electrolytes AND more Green. 
• Protein was easy, we blended in 2 TB of our Superfood Snack**
• Lastly, we dropped in a single Medjool date for A Touch of Sweet offsetting the greens and lending the final product a delicious caramel-like flavor

We are not exaggerating when we tell you how crazy tasty this combo turned out! Somehow it reads banana even though it contains none. This recipe could easily be split between two as a morning snack or for one person's kick butt breakfast.

Stay tuned for our Green Virgin Mary (a spicy, savory way to start a day) and our Hardcore Green to the Max Smoothie (not for the faint of heart). 

INGREDIENTS:

• Greens = 1-2 Swiss Chard Leaves (our chard was gargantuan so 1 leaf was plenty)
• Creamy = 1/2 Avocado
• Liquid = 1 cup unsweetened Coconut Water and 1 Cucumber, peeled
• Protein = 2 TB Superfood Snack**
• A touch of Sweetness = 1 Date, pitted 

INSTRUCTIONS:

Add cucumber, greens and liquid to the blender first. Blend. Follow with rest of ingredients blending until it reaches desired consistency. Add water by the tablespoon if wanting to thin out. 

** For those of you avoiding grains entirely, a TB of nut butter would work wonderfully for the protein part of your equation. If you list nuts as intolerant try blending in a TB of pumpkin or chia seeds.