If you are looking for a green smoothie alternative, you’ve just got to try this Strawberry Banana Smoothie (with hidden cauliflower!)

Why Look for a Green Smoothie Alternative?

What’s wrong with green smoothies, you ask? Nothing at all. In fact I am a huge green smoothie fan. However, for a number of reasons, it’s always a good idea to get as much variety in your diet as possible…especially when it comes to vegetables.

I can’t emphasize the importance of eating a wide variety of vegetables for good health (and fruits too, for that matter.) The greater the variety of vegetables you can get in your diet, the better. Each vegetable has its own unique antioxidant and phytonutrient profile and each vegetable offers something different as far as vitamins and minerals. But let’s face it, other than for something like pumpkin for a pumpkin smoothie, there are not too many vegetables that blend all that well into smoothies.

Having said that, believe it or not, FROZEN cauliflower (NOT fresh) makes the perfect alternative to greens for just about any green smoothie recipe. You honestly just can’t taste the cauliflower. And if you have picky kids, it’s a BIG perk that the cauliflower doesn’t change the color of the smoothie 😉

Why Use Frozen Cauliflower?

Unlike fresh cauliflower, frozen cauliflower is blanched before it is packaged. For the purpose of a cauliflower smoothie recipe, the only purpose to blanching is that it “softens” the cauliflower a bit and neutralizes the flavor. So, while you might not want to use frozen cauliflower for a recipe like cauliflower gratin (where you WANT to taste the cauliflower!), it works perfectly in a green smoothie alternative recipe (where you DON’T want to taste the cauliflower!)

Cauliflower Smoothie Benefits

And finally, a big reason I have started using cauliflower as a green smoothie alternative is to balance my over-40 hormones. As I talk about in the blog post for my Brain-Fog Busting/ Hormone Balancing Smoothie recipe, when it comes to reducing estrogen dominance, cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower (as well as cabbage, broccoli and brussls sprouts), are better than leafy greens. For what it is worth, cauliflower works it’s hormone balancing magic through through phase 1 and phase 2 detoxifcation.

But please don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely not saying you should ditch your greens. In fact, if you have our Clean Cuisine nutrition book or are familiar with our anti-inflammatory food pyramid, you know eating a large serving of nutrient-dense dark leafy greens every day plays a very important role in our overall nutrition recommendations in the past and it still does. However, when it comes to the practicalities of daily life, I find it so much more convenient to eat a salad than I do to make cauliflower (or any other cruciferous vegetable) on a consistent basis. And of all the cruciferous vegetables, frozen cauliflower is the one that blends most easily and without any funky aftertaste into a smoothie. These days, I simply prefer to get my daily cruciferous vegetable in my smoothie recipe and eat my greens in a salad, but of course you can always substitute kale or spinach for the cauliflower in the smoothie recipe below if you wish 😉

P.S. Looking for more green smoothie alternatives? Check out my other favorite Cauliflower Smoothie recipe!