Peanut Butter Smoothie

This week we’re blending it up peanut butter and banana style. But before we get started, I have a confession to make. It all started when we ran out of silken tofu today. Usually, I’m stocked to the gills with the stuff, but today there was none. Then one thing lead to another and before I knew it I was brainstorming with my favorite sidekick. Together we came up with a brilliant, all be it indulgent substitution: vanilla soy ice cream. Naturally, that’s just the substitution I would expect from a 4 year old, it came shortly after she suggested, “Potatoes!” Usually I’m not such a pushover, but the weather is warm and summer vacation is right around the corner, so we treated ourselves to something which I believe technically made this smoothie into a shake.

Now you can’t be all naughty and not a little nice, so I added in a tablespoon of chia seeds and it was perfection. Brought some balance back to the universe and our digestive systems. Did you know chia seeds have more protein than tofu?! Me neither. They also have more calcium than milk and more magnesium than broccoli. That’s all the chia trivia I have for you today, but stay tuned. At our house chia is the official seed of summer! More fun chia recipes to come.

If I were going the breakfast route with this one, I would add the oatmeal and chia mix-ins. Definitely skip the soy ice cream. Talk about a midday sugar crash!

Peanut Butter Smoothie

Two servings
Five minutes to prepare
Adapted from Deborah Madison's This Can't Be Tofu!

A Few Fun Twists To Add To This Favorite:

PB&J: After blending mix-in a dollop or two of (vegan) fruit preserves.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip: Add a small handful of mini (vegan) chocolate chips before you blend.
Peanut Butter Strawberry: Add fresh sliced strawberries to the blend
Peanut Butter Oatmeal: Add ½ cup rolled oats to the blender before you add anything else. Blend just the oats for a few second and set them aside. Add the other ingredients to the blender and the oatmeal last. If you just dump it all on top of the oatmeal, it tends to glom on the bottom of the blender.
Peanut Butter Milkshake: Substitute soy ice cream for the tofu.
Favorite Healthy Mix-in: Add 1 tablespoons chia seeds before blending.