News Taffy

It’s a given that I will try almost anything that is supposed to be edible, unless it is alive or appears rotten or smells bad. So of course I was up for the spinach smoothie yesterday. In fact, I couldn’t wait to try it. But first, let me explain.

Yesterday, I was at Hendrix College in Conway visiting the campus with my son, who is considering attending that fine school. At Hendrix, they brag about their cafeteria. A lot. Being the foodie and mom that I am, I immediately took their challenge. Knowing that my son will eat well next year wherever he goes is very important to me.

I looked around the cafeteria and though the layout could have been better to prevent bottlenecks, it was clean, bright and inviting. The salad bar items all looked fresh, but I would have like a bit more variety. Still, there was fresh spinach and dark leafy lettuces, not just iceberg, which has the least nutritional value of the lettuce family. There were also four soups to choose from, and the spicy Baja chicken I sampled was good. My husband chose the hot plate and I give the eggplant casserole high marks. It’s hard to make eggplant palatable to most people. My son chose a hamburger with fries which looked very blah to me but he claimed was tasty. An interesting thing about Hendrix’s cafeteria is that there is a self service stir fry station and a smoothie station. All the items you might want are there ready for you; you just select what you want, stir fry it on the spot or dump it in the blender. Best of all, the cafeteria workers clean it up and get it ready for the next student.

I had been encouraged by a Hendrix staffer to try a spinach and green apple smoothie. She said you couldn’t taste the spinach. I had actually been thinking of trying a green smoothie lately so this opportunity came at the right time. I made a beeline for the blenders and whipped one up. There were no green apples yesterday, but I substituted a banana. Despite it’s swamp glop appearance, it was delicious.

When I got home last night, I was forced to go to the grocery store and you guessed it, I got the stuff to make green smoothies. I whipped up a batch for dinner to surprise everyone. Let’s say that two out of four were less than happy. This time I used green apples, Greek vanilla yogurt, a touch of orange juice and spinach, nothing else. I thought the taste was refreshing and different. Barry liked it though he liked banana better than green apple. I was disappointed that my more adventurous daughter sulked but ate it willingly. My son gripped the whole time. Really, he is like a three year old sometimes when it comes to trying new food.

So, if you are looking for a way to slip some nutrition into a rebellious family member, try a spinach smoothie. Tell the kids you used green food coloring in honor of St. Patrick’s Day or that it is swamp glop. They’ll love that and if you don’t tell them what’s in it, they won’t know.

Until next week,
Lisa