Second Breakfast
my go-to smoothie: tweaked over time, always delish, sometimes a weird color
Summer mornings in Rockaway can include a bit of rushing. I don’t mind this, knowing later I’ll be languishing on the beach for multiple hours like a lizard, only moving to take a dip in the ocean. But sometimes, you wake up early on a Saturday, thinking you’re in for a quiet beach walk, only to see that the waves look fun, turn back home to gather your surf stuff, quickly munch down the nearest available energy source, because you really can’t surf on an empty stomach (but also don’t want too full of a stomach). Enter “first breakfast,” in this case, a banana with a smear of nut butter with every bite, eaten quickly, before beelining back to the beach for a session. Afterwards you bike home, salty and tired, ready for second breakfast. But your friends have texted, they’re on the beach and you don’t want to miss a moment of hang time! So you peel off your wetsuit and start packing your beach bag…the sand you’ve tracked inside is a Sunday evening problem.
You don’t want to waste a moment of daylight making anything long and involved, but need something filling, nutrient-dense and portable. Enter, the smoothie you’ve been making forever, adding more fun things to as you get older and a bit more health-conscious, or at least less Slim-Jim-obsessed. But over time it’s retained the PB&J essence that makes it taste so good.
This is truly a smoothie for all seasons. It’s a beach bag essential, but hits just as well the rest of the year! I like to make a big batch and keep them prepped for fun summer emergencies like the situation described above. Depending upon on your ratios and exact ingredients used, this will range in color from a deep berry pinky/purple to a less photogenic brownish mauve (seen below, lol), but always tastes amazing.
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Crowd-Pleasing, PB&J-Adjacent Smoothie
Ingredients
Frozen berries of any sort (I like the Trader Joe’s frozen Berry Blend that has blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries)
Acai
Frozen spinach or kale
Frozen banana
Cinnamon
Nut butter
Plain yogurt of choice (Greek or Kefir are my faves)
Protein powder
Chia seeds
Flax
This will be too thick on it’s own so I top with water to blend it! It’s a flexible smoothie—if you’re missing an ingredient or a few, it’ll still taste great. I feel that one form of berry (e.g. berry/ies or acai), the greens, and the nut butter are the most essential components. But the banana adds a touch of sweetness and the yogurt makes it creamy and protein-y.
Happy summer <3 Go Knicks <3
I have had this smoothie many times