Surprised by Chard: This 3-Ingredient Green Smoothie Tastes Amazingly Good

The first time I tasted chard, I was in grad school. I was studying Spanish education, and my supervising teacher, Carmel, invited me to her house for dinner.

A pack of energetic corgis greeted me at the door, and then Carmel, her husband and I sat down to a dinner of… something.

Actually, I can’t remember the entree.

But I sure remember the vegetable: rainbow chard. I’d never seen it before, and I silently panicked because my desire to be polite was butting up against my abhorrence for all things green.

Politeness won out, and I lifted a tiny forkful of chard into my mouth. To my surprise, I actually liked it.

Carmel had sauteed the chard with olive oil, salt, pepper and red wine vinegar. And that’s exactly how I’ve been preparing it for the past decade.

This afternoon, chard surprised me again. Although my strawberries and bougainvilleas have seen better days, my Pot of Golf chard is growing like crazy.

This plant never gives me any trouble.
Credit Dalia Colón.

 

 

I like experimenting with my Vitamix, so I decided to sneak something green into a smoothie.

Here’s what I used:

1. A handful of chard leaves — maybe five or six.
2. Juice of one orange.
3. Half a frozen banana.

That’s it.

Don’t judge a drink by its color.
Credit Dalia Colón.

My insides feel so fresh and so clean.

I’m not the green smoothie type, but I am the delicious smoothie type. This recipe just happens to meet both requirements.