Beet Greens Smoothie

Ryan and I recently signed up for a local CSA (community supported agriculture) and I kid you not, I was like a little kid at Christmas when I opened up our first box. It was exhilarating, and I've never seen a bunch of more beautiful vegetables in my life [yes, I know I'm a huge nerd and I'm OK with that].

[a small bunch of the veggies from the box]

In our box were two ginormous beets with a ton of greens still attached. Beet greens are edible, but I usually end up throwing them out for lack of ideas of what to do with them. These were too great to toss, so I snipped them off, gave them a quick wash, and then threw them in the blender with a bit of water to make some beet greens puree. Then I froze them in ice cube trays and have been adding a few cubes into our breakfast smoothies. I love it because they give the smoothies extra purple color and up the nutritional value a bit too (high in Vitamin A + C, plus calcium and iron too).

Want to try one? They're good, I promise. Even Ryan likes them!

Beet Greens Smoothie

4 cubes frozen beet greens (see above for how-to)

6 large strawberries

1/4 cup fruit juice - I used pineapple

1/4 cup plain yogurt or kefir

1/2 cup oats

1 tsp hulled hemp seeds or chia seeds (optional)

Pour liquids in blender first, then add the remaining ingredients. Add additional pineapple juice (or yogurt, milk, or liquid of your choice) as needed to reach your desired consistency. Bottoms up!