Fall is here, and the greens get richer while the rest of the farmers market turns shades of orange, apple and pear.  While the pears of the actual local season aren’t quite happening yet here in Los Angeles, you may have some near you. If so, this can easily be a bosc pear and arugula smoothie… But for now, the Asian pears are absolutely perfect and sweet so they are the star of this more earthy and luscious smoothie that has become my brunch today!

Here’s my Sunday Brunch Arugula & Asian Pear smoothie, along with a handfull of tips for seasonal smoothie making made-easy!

I had extra salad greens in the fridge that were not going to make it much longer and was not in the mood for a salad.  Hence, this smoothie was borne.  The inspiration came from a friend who attends local cooking classes faithfully at Wholefoods in West Hollywood.  If you are in LA, I highly recommend you check out these free classes!

Arugula & Asian Pear Smoothie

• 2 cups (roughly) of arugula.  Mine was wild and organic, but any will do.
• 1 Asian pear
• 2 big tablespoons of almond butter (mine was both unsalted and unsweetened)
• 2 cups very cold water
• a few ice cubes
• 2 fresh dates, pitted
• and a splash of OJ if you have it on hand (sounds weird but it really brightens it up; though not needed… I prefer without but want to give you the option!)

Whirl it all up until the arugula is fully turned into smoothie.

It has an indescribably earthiness from the Asian pear, and the sweet notes balance well with the bitter greens.  Its not quite a dessert smoothie, but it is extremely addictively drinkable.  And with all the almond butter, it can easily be a breakfast!

I imagine you can fortify here with coconut oil (1 tsp) or even some raw honey in place of the dates, but I am a smoothie minimalist.  All those blended greens and fruits in a glass seem like quite the nutritional powerhouse on their own.

A few things I have learned about seasonal smoothie making: if you stick to local produce, you will always be “tracking” with the season which is the philosophy behind Traditional Chinese Medicine and food.  Also, I like to keep a bowl of juicy dates on hand year-round (occasionally they dry up but still work beautifully) to add a little extra sweet to bitter greens.  Lastly, if you don’t have almond milk on hand, you can add a generous tablespoon of almond butter to your smoothie using water as the base and add as needed to get it luscious.  Almond butter is much easier to find than almond milk in many places, and I like to keep things easy for people!

Enjoy! xoxo Dana