A Great Way to Start the Weekend...
When the weekends roll around, all I want to do is sleep in.  But when the time comes, I know I want to wake up and make a good, refreshing, and well-rounded breakfast.  After going years of just eating raw fruit with my breakfast, I had honestly overlooked smoothies—they were always too heavy for me, and I could never finish them.  Also, I found that most smoothies that had anything more than fruit in them were just disgusting—who wants to eat vegetables for breakfast, after all?
When I went to Panera one day, however, my perceptions on the tastiness of a vegetable and fruit smoothie completely changed.  Since I was feeling adventurous, I gave the Carrot-Pineapple Smooth a try—and I absolutely loved it.  It wasn’t too heavy as it contained no dairy, but was able to combine both fruits and vegetables in a delicious and refreshing way.  The second I got home, I began to make my own version of the Panera smoothie, and ended up adapting from a Food Network recipe.  Since then, I have made this smoothie every weekend for breakfast with some eggs on sourdough bread.  The combination truly makes for a filling and satisfying weekend breakfast, complete with vegetables that can’t even be tasted!
Since this smoothie requires few ingredients, it is easy to keep a college fridge stocked at all times.  Even without a kitchen, this smoothie is also doable in a  dorm room—all one needs is a small NutriBullet or Fruit Ninja blender (though it may make some noise).  The recipe below provides my adaptation of this delicious smoothie!
My experience with this new smoothie has encouraged me to give smoothies another try, since they are really a great way in which I can get fruits and vegetables in a new way. I also have room to experiment and try new things with what I have in my kitchen when I make smoothies—who knows when a new concoction will be created that becomes the next best smoothie!
Carrot-Pineapple Smoothie — (serves 2)
This smoothie is a great way to get fruits and vegetables in one glass, and is a perfect way to start a morning or curb any sweet-tooth cravings.
Ingredients:
1 cup orange juice
1 banana
1 1/2 cup pineapple (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup carrot
1 cup ice
Orange slivers (garnish)
Place all ingredients in a blender.
Blend until smooth.
Serve immediately, and garnish with orange slivers.
