Brown Bag: You’re Such a Smoothie!

For a refreshing, nutritious light meal or snack, try one of these delicious smoothies at home or at work. If you have a lunchroom at the office, you can purchase a blender (and a small refrigerator, if you have the space), so employees can keep fresh ingredients on hand and whip up their own smoothies during the day.

Here are some of our favorites smoothie recipes:

Strawberry-Melon Smoothie

• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 cup cut-up cantaloupe
• 1 carton (8 oz.) nonfat plain yogurt
• 1 bag (10 oz.) frozen, unsweetened strawberries

In blender, puree orange juice with cantaloupe. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.

Per serving: 93 calories, <1 g. fat (0 g. saturated fat), 21 g. carbohydrate,
4 g. protein, 2 g. dietary fiber, 40 mg. sodium.

Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie

• 4 cups nonfat milk
• 4 Tbsp. smooth peanut butter
• 4 frozen bananas
• Sugar or honey, to taste (optional)
• 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla

In blender, place milk and peanut butter. Blend for 30 seconds. Add bananas, sugar or honey, cinnamon, and vanilla. Blend until mixture is completely combined. Serve immediately. 

Makes 4 smoothies.

Per serving: 290 calories, 9 g. total fat (2 g. saturated fat), 44 g. carbohydrates,
13 g. protein, 5 g. dietary fiber, 201 mg. sodium.

Gazpacho Smoothie

• 1 small tomato, quartered
• 3/4 cup reduced-sodium tomato juice cocktail, chilled
• 2 Tbsp. minced fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 small garlic clove, chopped
• 1/4 jalapeño pepper (or to taste), chopped
• 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
• Juice of 1/2 fresh lime (about 1 Tbsp.)
• Small wedge of fresh lime and a cherry tomato for garnish (optional) 

Freeze tomato in a plastic bag until hard, about 3 to 4 hours. (Tomatoes will keep up to one week. Several tomatoes may be frozen at a time.) Place frozen tomato, juice, cilantro, garlic, jalapeño, cumin, and lime juice in a blender. Purée until well-blended and almost smooth.

Pour into a tall tumbler filled with ice cubes. Garnish, if desired, with a small wedge of lime and a cherry tomato, speared on a short skewer and added to the glass like a swizzle stick. Serve immediately.

Makes 1 serving. (Recipe can be multiplied to make more servings, but you may want to cut down on garlic and jalapeno if you do.)

Per serving: 60 calories, 0 g. total fat (0 g. saturated fat), 12 g. carbohydrate, 2 g. protein, 3 g. dietary fiber, 136 mg. sodium.

By AICR