Smoothie Rainbows!

In my magical world, puppies poop glitter, luck dragons hang out with unicorns, and rainbows are made of different fruit-flavored smoothies that you can drink with a straw. Yea, I know I'm dreaming when it comes to sparkly dog crap (and I'll admit that luck dragons might not be real). But you really can make a rainbow of smoothies!

When I was offered a copy of What Color Is Your Smoothie? to review, I jumped at the chance. I often drink fruit smoothies before my daily workouts since I'm not that fond of eating fruit whole. But I tend to fall into smoothie ruts, and more often than not, I find myself drinking the same old banana-nut butter smoothie.

This book is filled with more than 300 smoothie recipes, all arranged in chapters by color. There's an orange chapter, a green chapter, a red chapter, a blue one, and several more. Most chapters feature a mix of fruit smoothies, like a traditional blueberry smoothie (blueberries and almond milk) or the crazy cauliflower-garlic smoothie (cauliflower, garlic, Greek yogurt). Most recipes are vegan, but some, like the above-mentioned savory smoothie call for dairy ingredients that are easy to sub (if you are lucky enough to live in a town where So Delicious' Greek-style coconut yogurt is sold ... I'm not).

First I tried the Blue Banana Berry Smoothie, made with blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, a banana, and kefir:

I chose this because I've been dying for an excuse to shell out $5 on a bottle of So Delicious Cultured Coconut Milk (a vegan version of kefir). I really enjoyed the yogurt flavor the kefir gave the smoothie. All of recipes in this book call for ice, but many non-Vitamix blenders (like mine) just don't do ice. So I substituted frozen fruit, and it worked just fine.

Tonight, I made this Peach Cobbler Smoothie with frozen peaches, granola, cinnamon, cloves, ground ginger, and almond milk:

Wow! It tasted a lot like peach cobbler, thanks to the blended granola and the spices. This kept me full for my one-hour bike ride around town after work. And it has way less calories than real pie! Next time, I'll use a little less cloves. But other than that, perfect!

I know I'll be referencing this book in the warm spring and summer months ahead, when a mid-afternoon smoothie is the most refreshing treat imaginable before my workout. I might even get brave and venture into the world of savory smoothies. Blazing Broccoli Smoothie, anyone? (That's really in the book!)