Smoothie ingredients: ready, set, blend

We just told you about the Taste of Ridgewood, a benefit for the Ridgewood YMCA’s Strong Kids Campaign, so we thought we’d share our favorite smoothie recipe! It’s great for all ages, but especially kids since it’s packed with nutritional powerhouses like chia seeds and avocado. The secret to its creamy richness is goat yogurt, but regular or Greek yogurt are fine to use too.

All-Ages Power Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 small banana, frozen in chunks
• 3–5 pieces of frozen mango, depending on chunk size (berries are good too, if splattering/staining isn’t an issue)
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• Homemade* goat yogurt from Parrot Coffee
• 1 teaspoon chia seeds (available at Ridgewood Farm Market)

Directions

Add banana, mango, oj, and a generous spoonful (at least 1/4 cup) of goat yogurt to blender. Whiz until smooth; this may take up to several minutes. Add chia seeds at the last second if you want them whole (makes the smoothie look cool and seedy), or you can add them earlier and they’ll get ground up. Thin it out with a little almond or coconut milk (or water) if necessary. Yield: 1 serving (fits nicely in 10-oz straw cup)

Tasty, nutrient-packed smoothie!

Tips:

• JAZZ IT UP with a few leaves of fresh basil (we keep a plant in the kitchen windowsill). You can also add honey, but we haven’t found it to be necessary.
• Give it an EXTRA BOOST with avocado (my kid’s fave), nut butter, a spoonful of oats, or even cauliflower or spinach (but maybe don’t try all at once).

*we think