Jalapeño Green Monster Smoothie.

I’m the girl that gravitates towards anything spicy.  I had a drink a few years ago at The Standard hotel in the Meatpacking District in NYC that revolutionized my thinking of the jalapeño.  I’ll admit, they are my weakness.  If you aren’t a fan of heat – trust me, pass this recipe by and look at my other smoothie recipes because this one isn’t for you.  I whipped this up today (Saturday) post early morning yoga, farmer’s market trip on my “rest” day from training.  I was craving something spicy to kick up my metabolism and ignite a fire in me.  I’ll admit, this smoothie did just that!

Funny story~ I made this just as my husband and older daughter were coming home from the yoga class they took and my husband took a big gulp of it, not knowing my ring of fire plan, and almost died!  Ha.  So it comes with a warning.  You can obviously control the heat by the amount of jalapeño you put in and if you seed it or not.  I went BIG and whole – all seeds in tact.  Again… think of Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire playing in the background {insert evil laugh here}.  I’m addicted.  I’m a big fan of BluePrint juices.  This reminds me of my favorite one.  Get ready to jump aboard – if you’re a spice fan… you’ll never look back – I know I’m not!

Ingredients:

3 green apples, cored with skin on
1 large or 2 small jalapeños, stem removed
2 inch piece of ginger (peeled)
1 cup of water
1 GIANT handful of organic baby spinach leaves, washed
2 oranges (I used one large and one small, or two regular sized)
8 ice cubes

Directions:

Add everything to your Vitamix or blender and hit the smoothie setting.  Blend until liquified.  Enjoy!

— Knead to Cook