blueberry-almond smoothie

It seems to me that the minute you hear something is good for you, another study comes out that says it isn’t. In the long years that I’ve been writing about food, I’ve seen diet advice swing from grapefruit to no fruit, from low fat to bacon, from no meat to all meat, from the virtues of brown rice to the sins of carbs. Eating healthy is enough to drive a person to drink!

So that’s why today’s recipe is a smoothie. What’s that you say? Smoothies are old school? Gone the way of the cupcake? Baloney. I drink this for breakfast and it gives me energy for hours. That’s because it has protein, carbs, and good fats in the right balance. And this is a blueprint recipe—you can sub other frozen or fresh fruit (and add ice); use other nuts instead of almonds or add a dash of almond extract instead; choose soy, oat, or almond milk instead of yogurt if you don’t do dairy. Add protein powder if you have that on hand. In other words, adapt it to whatever your diet mantra is this week and remember: worrying about food can be more unhealthy than eating it.

ingredients

1/4 cup slivered almonds
1 cup frozen organic blueberries, or peaches, strawberries, raspberries, etc.
1 medium ripe banana, peeled
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 cup ice, optional

directions

Put almonds, blueberries or other fruit, banana (break into pieces as you add it), and yogurt into a blender container. If using fresh fruit, add the ice. Whirl until smoothly pureed. Garnish with a few frozen blueberries, if desired. Drink immediately.

Nutritional data per serving: 293 calories, 15g total fat (6g sat fat), 33g total carbs (5g dietary fiber; 19g total sugars); 8g protein; 45mg cholesterol; 56mg sodium; 14% daily calcium.