Quick Basil Pineapple Ginger Smoothie

I was kind of a late comer to the whole smoothie movement. I found them intimidating. I know, I know, what's there to be intimidated about? You take a bunch of ingredients and put them in a blender and go. But I found the myriad smoothie options bewildering. So many different possibilities. What if I get it wrong? And I don't even own a decent blender. Those were my feelings towards smoothies before January 1st, 2013.

I was nearly 4 months pregnant. The night before, I'd spend New Year's Eve in the bedroom binge watching Netflix. My husband mid making the newly purchased house livable was busy tearing sheet after sheet of wallpaper off the living room wall. It felt like living in a bit of a war zone and the safest place was as far away from the chaos taking place downstairs.

After spending a good 14 weeks of my pregnancy consuming cereal, mozzarella cheese and marshmallow fluff as the only sustainable fuel I could stomach, I felt a returning to myself. I was craving vegetables, fruit. I wanted all of it. Bring on the greens!

While I find new years resolutions to be absurd and most of the time a big fat lie people tell themselves for a temporary respite from their usual behavior, here I was making one. I decided on January 1st, I'd get up and get myself a good blender and would eat more fruits and vegetables in the form of smoothies. I came home with my shiny new machine and about $50 worth of produce.

I played it safe with the first. Banana - check, spinach - check, blueberries - check, water + ice - check. Two weeks later and I was blending expert. No holds barred.

As the months wore on and my enthusiasm diminished, I scaled down on the ingredient list I had initially worked up to. Several types of greens, multiple fruit and nuts - it was overkill. So I stuck to some basic recipes I actually enjoyed making with only a few ingredients. I wanted the benefit, liked the taste but didn't want to go broke in the process.

So here is a recipe that dates back to my smoothie obsession. For it, I use basil, pineapple, ginger, frozen banana, cashew milk, collagen and coconut oil. It's invigorating and fresh and a fantastic way to get your vitamins and fiber.