Don’t just wear green this St. Patrick’s Day, drink it. Start the day off right with a green smoothie. How’s that for top o’ the morning?
“I just think smoothies are the best for breakfast. They’re blended. They’re gentle on your stomach, and they pack a big nutritional punch,” said Tiffany Watts, a food scientist and co-owner of Oasis Juice Bar in Wayne. “You just feel good.”
She offers everything from pineapple banana kale to peanut butter kale chip.
“Everybody always gets peanut butter kale chip. They’re just crazy about it,” Watts described.
And that’s no blarney. About a half-mile away, at Raw Can Roll Cafe, channel the luck of the Irish with a healthy take on a Shamrock Shake.
“Our Shamrock Shake is awesome!” said general manager Badruzzaman Alamgir, a poet from Bangladesh who goes by Al B for short. “In our Shamrock, we put real actual organic mint leaf,” plus organic almond milk, banana, vanilla, agave and kale.
Kale also stars in three other green smoothies with catchy names like Neon La Bamba.
“My favorite is Neon La Bamba because I like orange juice and the combination of mango,” he added. “The combination has to be perfect – the proportion of orange juice, the proportion of mango, the proportion of kale and how nicely you blend the smoothie.”
At Arnold’s Way in Lansdale, owner Arnold Kauffman adds bananas and dates to his daily smoothies.
“I drink about 30 ounces a day,” said the author and raw food advocate. “Green smoothies rock! They do.”
Looking for a sugar-free smoothie? Try the Miseducation at Gangster Vegan Organics in Norristown. It’s a blend of cucumber, kale, lemon, parsley, cilantro, avocado, garlic and more.
“It’s almost like soup in a jar,” said owner Vince DePaul, aka Vinny Vegan. “It’s what people should be drinking on a daily basis. It has a nice little bite to it – not too hot, not too spicy.”
He jokingly called this smoothie “the advanced course.”
“I feel like we’ve been miseducated about food,” explained DePaul, who teaches kids how to make their own smoothies and offers a free hot, organic vegan meal to every child at his store Monday nights. “My goal is making plant-based food fun and flavorful.”
He’s even opening on a second location in University City.
Back at Oasis Juice Bar, a woman wearing workout clothes, her hair in a ponytail, walked up to the counter just before lunchtime.
“I already know what I want,” she said, Irish eyes smiling. “A peanut butter kale chip, please!”
Shamrock Shake
Makes 16 ouncesINGREDIENTS
11/2 kale leaves2 drops vanilla12 ounces organic almond milk
3 leaves fresh organic mint1 tablespoon agave
11/2 frozen bananasInstructionsBlend well. Add 4 ice cubes and blend again.
RECIPE COURTESY OF RAW CAN ROLL CAFE
Miseducation
Makes 32 ouncesINGREDIENTS
1/2 cucumber1 nice handful of parsley
1 nice handful of cilantro1 nice handful of kale
1 nice handful of celery1/2 avocado
2 cloves garlic, peeled1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, to taste
1/2 tablespoon Himalayan pink salt, to taste
1 tablespoon red chili flakes1 teaspoon to 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1 nice splash of organic rice vinegar
1 nice splash of apple cider vinegar
2 to 4 ounces of filtered water
1 to 2 handfuls of ice (optional)
InstructionsBlend 2 minutes.RECIPE COURTESY OF GANGSTER VEGAN ORGANICS
Peanut Butter Kale Chip
Makes 2 cups
INGREDIENTS2 medium ripe bananas
1 tablespoon peanut butter1 cup loosely packed kale
1 cup ice1/4 cup water2 teaspoons cocoa nibs
InstructionsBlend well.RECIPE COURTESY OF OASIS JUICE BAR
Neon Green
Makes 2 cupsINGREDIENTS
1 cup mango1 cup pineapple2 cups loosely packed spinach
1 cup ice1/2 cup waterInstructions
Blend well.RECIPE COURTESY OF OASIS JUICE BAR
Pineapple Banana Kale
Makes 2 cups
INGREDIENTS1 large ripe banana1 cup pineapple
2 cups loosely packed kale1 cup ice
1/4 cup waterInstructionsBlend well.
RECIPE COURTESY OF OASIS JUICE BAR
