Strawberries & Cashew Cream Swirl Smoothie.  Because, we eat with our eyes too, a every day could use a little magical wow factor that doesn’t require any effort or special tools! This is a smoothie that will give you maximum wow factor for very little effort, its as substantial as a meal and yet as delicious as a dessert.  Fresh, springy, full of your choice of greens and made with stuff from the average grocery store. It looks like a Rothko painting or a colored sand jar… or… an awesome smoothie! OK, lets get started!

Strawberries & Cashew Cream Swirl Smoothie

• Two handfuls of spinach, chard or kale.  If you don’t have a power blender, I say opt for spinach because its easiest to break down.
• A 12 oz bag of frozen organic strawberries. (note: there are lots of pesticides put on berries so its worth going organic)
• 4 oz raw cashew pieces (I use half an 8 oz bag from Trader Joe’s- you can use any you’d like and if you’d like you can soak them for a few hours, some say it increases digestibility, creaminess, etc.  I am too impatient to soak most of the time!)
• 4-5 dates (I like them soft)
• about 2 1/2 cups of water (maybe a bit more depending on how frozen your berries are!)

To make this shake:

Hot pink: Put the strawberries, water and dates in your blender and whirl until really well pureed.  If its too freezing, add a bit more water.  Pour a bit of this bright pink puree into your big smoothie jar or into the bottom of two tall glasses.

Lighter pink: Now add cashews to the puree left in the blender.  And about 1/2 cup more water.  Mix it up and pour a bit of this slowly into the glasses. I pour toward one side of the glass.  This will make sense in a moment.

Pastel green: Add a handful of greens to the remaining mix in the blender and whirl it up until its well mixed. You may want to add an extra date or a touch more water here, though I don’t.

And finally, lime green: In the last bit of your mix add the remaining greens and blend.  Again, pour it all down the same side of the glass.

To create the mottled swirly effect, use a knife of a spoon and drag colors from the side where you poured them around the circumference of the glass.  (Sorry, it was too hard to do this and shoot it at the same time, but its very simple!)

Worst case scenario, you over mix it and you have a delicious creamy cashew strawberry smoothie, and it was super easy.  Practice a few times (its so good you will want to) and you’ll get the hang of it if you don’t the first time.  Best case scenario, you have these artworks in a glass to have as a snack or breakfast! I stir it up completely right before I drink it, but you don’t have to! Enjoy! xoxo Dana