Avocado-Banana Smoothie

It's almost June...gahhh, how quickly time flies!  I feel like I've been home for only a couple of days, when in reality I've been at home for several weeks, which is completely crazy.  It's so hard to believe that I'll be at work at this time next week.  As excited as I am for it, I still just want to be at home in my lazy summer mode.  But alas, life is just not like that.  Going to work is just something we have to do!  It probably won't be that bad. The one thing I noticed about working everyday last summer was that it made the days go by super quickly, which was great because before you knew it, the weekend had already arrived and I was back in my summer mode, baking in the mornings and photographing in the afternoons.  Working everyday during the week ended up being a good thing, as it forced me to become organized and use my time in as productive a manner as possible.  I'm not gonna lie, but I am really looking forward to having this sense of structure once again.  

In any case though, I am going to make sure that I take full advantage of the few precious days that remain of pure summer laziness.  One of my favorite ways of doing this is by making smoothies.  With the abundance of fresh fruit that's available at this time of year, I find myself craving fruit in every shape and form, but smoothies almost always seem to win.  Sure, pies and tarts and muffins are great, but there's just something about a refreshing smoothie that just can't be beat.  It's nice to have fruit still in their raw form, unaffected by added sugar or heat.  This avocado-banana smoothie is one of my favorites.  Avocados are one of my favorite fruits (yes, they're fruits!), because they instantly give anything they're combined with beautiful color and a lovely creamy texture.  Combining them with a banana, orange juice, and some yogurt yields a perfect summer-y smoothie.

Like any other smoothie, this one can be blended up in a matter of minutes, making it the perfect summertime (or anytime, really) treat.  It's refreshing and delicious, and is definitely good for you too!

Avocado-Banana Smoothie
recipe from Everyday Food, January/February 2012

Ingredients

1 avocado
1 banana
1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1 1/2 cups orange juice
1/4 cup honey
2 1/2 - 3 cups crushed ice

Directions

In a blender, combine the avocado, banana, yogurt, orange juice, honey and ice.  Blend until smooth.  Serve immediately, with additional ice if desired.

Serves 4