Persimmon Spinach Smoothie
Let's talk about my blender situation.
I'm hard on blenders. Really, terribly abusive. I've had the same bright orange KitchenAid blender since I was about 22, and the poor girl is in bad shape. We've done a lot of fixes and repairs, but the truth is, my eight-year-old blender just isn't made to go through the kale-blending, soup-pureeing, ice-chopping daily abuse I put it through. In fact, a few months ago, some part in the blade assembly broke again, and she's been sitting in basement purgatory waiting for me to decide if she's going to be fixed again or going to go to the landfill ever since. We've had a good run, but my blender was made for folks who want to make the occasional blended margarita, and as much as I love the occasional blended margarita, I use my blender for a lot more than just that.
I've seen the big ole fancy high-speed blenders demonstrated at Whole Foods, but as much as I love a good kitchen appliance that can blend a cell phone without losing step, I gotta draw the line at dropping $500+ on an appliance that isn't really necessary in my life. I'm just way too cheap frugal to spend that kind of money. It's the same way I feel about organic red bell peppers. Would I love to buy them? Yes. But I cannot justify $4 a pepper, regardless of how pesticide-free they are.
ANYWHO. This sordid tale of my blender-related life is all to inform you about my frame of mind with I walked up to the Ninja booth at the Healthy Living Summit a couple of weeks ago. They had this beautiful, incredible, high-speed blender (the Ninja Ultima) sitting out, and right next to it, a sign saying they were giving away five blenders to HLS attendees-just as long as you snapped a photo with the blender and posted it on Instagram. I was, quite shamelessly, all over that.
And I found out the next evening-I won! I never win raffles or giveaways or things like that, so I was SO pumped. I was at dinner with Lauren, Gretchen, and Amy, and I totally flipped out.
And immediately started thinking about all the amazing things I was going to whip up in my new, shiny blender. So many options! No longer would I have to pre-smash ice. Or only blend things a cup at a time. Or drink a gritty smoothie. Oh, the possibilities!
I really wanted to put my new blender to the test, so I decided to start off with a green persimmon spinach smoothie. Green smoothies can be tricky because if you aren't careful, you might find yourself chewing your smoothie a lot more than drinking it. No one wants to chew a smoothie.
I know a lot of folks use bananas as the base for smoothies, but we don't eat a lot of bananas in our house, so instead, I make sweet, tangy persimmons the base of this persimmon spinach smoothie. If you've never had a persimmon before, it's one of the sweetest fruits on the planet, it's soft, and has a slightly citrus-y flavor. It's incredible delicious. And we're very lucky that they grow wild right in our backyard. But if you don't have your own persimmon tree, many grocery stores carry them (albeit a totally different variety than what grow around here).
The Ultima totally rocked this persimmon spinach smoothie. The thing that impressed me the most was the speed. With my old blender, it took me a good 3-4 minutes worth of blending to make sure there aren't any spinach chunks, but with the Ultima, it was ready to go in just a few seconds. And the added ice? Absolutely no problem. It was smooth, creamy, and totally delicious. I'm a big fan.
I am so thankful to Ninja for being an HLS sponsor, and giving away their awesome blenders to attendees. And if that wasn't cool enough, Ninja also decided to giveaway more blenders to two friends of the winners. Which means not only did I win an awesome blender, but so did the amazing Coach Krissie (because it was the least I could do to pay her back for all the awesome she brings to my life).
📖 Recipe
Persimmon Spinach Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh spinach
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ½ cup persimmon puree
- Pinch of cinnamon
- 1 cup nut, soy, or cow's milk
- Handful of ice cubes
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients in the carafe of a high-speed blender. Blend on high until very smooth. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Want to save this recipe?
I'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
I would definitely make a "green monster" smoothie that my kids would actually eat because it wouldn't have the chunks of spinach/kale getting caught in their straws! Oh and I won't miss the smell our current blender produces if we don't add enough liquid to the mix. Smells like burning...
I'm not entering because I already have a Ninja blender, but I wanted to chime in here to say they are AWESOME. I particularly love the individual serving-size blender bottles -- perfect for taking morning smoothies on the go!! So glad you are loving your's too 🙂
Oh, man...I would LOVE to win this (I also never win anything, so maybe this will be the time I actually do!). I think I would make a green smoothie as well...I've never actually made one with spinach or kale, because my blender is not very good at all, but it's right up my alley of things I would like to drink. My second choice would probably be to make a milkshake....you know, to balance out the healthy green smoothie. 🙂
As much as I'd like to say something healthy, if probably make something alcoholic. It's been that kind of a day! We're in serious need of a good blender so I definitely appreciate this post. Thanks, Cassie! 🙂
A chocolate peanut butter banana protein smoothie! YUM!
I am definitely in need of a new blender! The one I currently have is some super old smoothie machine with a spout that's impossible to clean!
If I won this blender I would make myself a batch of banana "soft serve ice cream". So easy and so tasty!
I would make my delicious roasted butternut squash and apple soup. Yum! Your recipe sounds delicious too:)
I would make eggplant soup! Last time I made it I had to blend it in batches with a Magic Bullet. I probably spilled a quarter of it and ended up with 2nd degree burns...such a hassle! This blender would be so awesome!
Green Smoothie!! No wait, I'd make some soup! No, a chocolate shake!! No, definitely the first use would be a green smoothie with banana and peanut butter. Yum.
Holeeeee moly what an exciting win for you! I think I'd probably make something like b-nut or delicata squash soup cause it's too cold for smoothies! Unless I made an apple cider-esque smoothie and drank it warm.... when does a smoothie become a 'smoothie' and not a soup? Is it the temperature? Is it a sweet vs. savory thing?? Sorry, excuse the pontificating, I have a problem with typing exactly what's being said in my brain. (Oy vey!) Thanks for the awesome giveaway to you and Ninja!
First let me compliment you on your blog, I LOVE IT!!! This blog post has made me want to try a persimmon! I would LOVE to try your Persimmon Spinach smoothie as well as the Sweet Citrus Avocado Green smoothie from the Lunchboxbunch blog. Not to mention the countless possibilities with a fine machine such as this!
I would probably make some banana soft serve with a hefty dollop of peanut butter thrown in! Not the most complicated of recipes, perhaps, but why gild the lily?
As much as I love a good smoothie, I need to be honest here. I am going to make a frozen margarita!
I'd try making the Apple Pie Spinach Smoothie!
I would make beet dip - it's really odd cause I don't usually like dips or beets, but I got this recipe at a yoga retreat and it's amazing. And I just started getting beets again in my produce box.
Nice!! I'm moving into a new apartment next month with basically zero appliances, so this would be awesome. The first recipe I'd try out is a margarita <- why lie about it?! 😀
I would make some margaritas!
Holy crap! What an awesome giveaway. A Ninja has been on my wish list for some time now. I would love to make soup with it, since I hear it's fabulous as whipping that right up!
I would make a margarita. I've never had a blender that could crush up ice nice enough like they have in the restauraunts. 🙂
Definitely hummus ... followed by a delicious green smoothie 🙂
A green smoothie all the way!