Strawberry Banana Protein Smoothie with Coconut

Let’s talk about vegetables. Specifically, getting enough of them in the winter. Salads are an easy go-to meal for me during the warmer months, but when it’s chilly outside, I find myself looking for meals that are a little more hearty. If you live somewhere with cold winters, I’m sure you’d agree that the shorter days, longer nights and lower temperatures tend to increase cravings for comfort foods. Cooking up big batches of soup or chili on the weekend are great alternatives to raw salads, but another super easy way to make sure you don’t fall short on your vegetable intake is to start at breakfast.

What does that look like? There are plenty of savory plant-based breakfast options, including:

• A tofu scramble with a little chopped spinach and cherry tomatoes
• A whole grain breakfast burrito stuffed with avocado, black beans, peppers and salsa
• Mashed avocado spread on toast and sprinkled with sea salt
• A pita filled with a few strips of tempeh, sliced tomato, spinach and hummus
• A nutrient-dense smoothie!

Now don’t worry – you don’t have to go throwing a big fistful of spinach or kale into your blender in order to put veggies in your smoothie. In this Coconut Strawberry blend, I’ve used Vega® Protein & Greens which provides two servings of greens that you won’t even be able to detect. Instead, you’ll just taste juicy strawberries and smooth, creamy coconut. That might just lead to daydreaming about lying on a beach under a palm tree, and I don’t know about you, but that’s certainly where I’d like to be at this time of year!

A quick word on coconut: Up until only a few years ago, I was as anti-coconut as it gets. The dry, flaky texture just wasn’t something my tastebuds were down with. Coconut milk on the other hand, is one of my favorite ingredients for recipes, both sweet and savory. While it lends a lovely creaminess to soups and curries, it also brings an exotic, rich flavor to smoothies like this Coconut Strawberry one. Because the strawberries and frozen banana create plenty of natural sweetness, I recommend using an unsweetened coconut milk like So Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage.