MJ's Gingery Green Goo Fruit and Veggie Smoothie

My husband has the dietary preferences of a five-year-old boy. A particularly picky, obstinate, stinker of a five-year-old boy, to be exact. Me, I love greens -- the fresher and darker green, the better. I've found a way to entice the five-year-old boy in the relationship to expand his nutritional horizons -- home-made smoothies. As smoothie-lovers know, they can give you an entire meal in a glass, and they provide all the fiver and nutrition the whole fruit or vegetable will offer. Because they are uncooked, they are handy for dorm rooms, traveling, or mixing up to drink on the way to the office in the morning.

Although this smoothie is a funny shade of green that may take some getting used to, it is absolutely delicious. If you've ever indulged in a "grasshopper" cocktail or a pistachio ice cream, you'll get along just fine with the shade of this smoothie. If not, don't look -- just drink.

Because of the texture of the broccoli, you'll want to whip this one up extra smooth. If you like a more milk-shakey texture, add some heavy whipping cream (unsweetened) and you'll have a creamy green julius! I sometimes indulge in some light whipped cream on top as well.

This meal offers iron-rich spinach, broccoli and kiwi mixed with some "yellows" for vitamin C and flavor. The vitamin C helps those who require more iron, like my husband, to absorb the iron in the vegetables. Iron is a funny thing: get it from red meat, and it's easier for your body to utilize it. Get it from the healthier vegetables that contain it, and you'll need to make sure you have vitamin C at the same time to boost your ability to assimilate it. Vitamin C also boosts collagen production -- and you probably already know how good that is for your skin! I used Dole Tropical Gold canned pineapple chunks and juice for this recipe as they have three times as much vitamin C as "regular" pineapple -- 1/2 cup (as this recipe calls for) contains 70% of your US daily requirement!

Here are some of the other nutritional highlights of this smoothie, ingredient-by-ingredient. I have included the US RDA percentages for the amount of the primary ingredients required for this recipe; you do not need to do any math -- if I included one banana, you'll see the nutrition information for one banana below. I am not a nutritionist nor a doctor but have researched these particular ingredients accordingly. This is not a compete list of nutritional values for these ingredients, but highlights the best values. I've bolded those values of special note.

• Banana: Vitamin A: 2%. C: 17%. Iron: 2%. Potassium: 12%
• Kiwi: 21% fiber. Vitamin A: 3%. C: 273%. Iron: 3%. Calcium: 6%. Potassium: 16%.
• Spinach: 7 calories! Vitamin A: 56%. C: 14%. Calcium: 3%. Iron: 5%. 0 fat!
• Broccoli: Vitamin A: 5%. C: 65%. Calcium: 2%. Iron: 2%. Vitamin K: 56%.
• Pineapple and juice: Vitamin C: 39%. Vitamin A: 2%. Iron: 4%. Manganese: 140%. Potassium: 9%.
• Lime juice: Vitamin C: 22%.

Even a quick skim of the ingredients will reassure you that you are getting a healthy dose of C, iron, potassium, K, calcium, and manganese. As for the ginger? It has long been in use as an immune-system boost and a digestive aid, among other benefits. It is also the "secret ingredient" that gives this smoothie such an appealing tangy kick.

Now the bad news: this smoothie has a lot of naturally-occurring sugar in it! Pineapple, banana, and kiwi are all sweet fruit. If you are watching your sugar intake, you will need to be aware of the fructose content. I have not calculated it here as I am recognizing that, although there is no sugar added (no processed sugar, no corn syrup, etc.) it remains a sweet smoothie.

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