Pureed grass clippings? Anyone? Anyone?

Aunty Courtney and cousins Mikey and Minami are visiting for a week. As is always fun, Courtney has brought a notebook full of recipes and has grand plans to keep us well fed.

Already we've had tortellini with broccoli (oniony and yummy), spaghetti with pine nuts (garlicky and yummy), green beans with lemon juice and almonds (tart and yummy), and green smoothies (umm . . . a little yucky).

I'm all about being healthy, but taste plays a HUGE factor in that endeavor. I like flavor and spice and variety - all the good stuff that makes food more than just nutrition. Food is supposed to make you feel good. It's supposed to be fun and satisfying, something more than matter measured in units of calories and ingested simply for energy. We're NOT automobiles, and food is NOT just fuel.

That being said, Courtney decided we needed to try her "Green Smoothie" (thank you, Laie III Ward Enrichment Meeting.) She claimed it gives her the most amazing energy boost and insisted it really is tasty. Mikey refers to it as the "Shrek drink". That should've been warning enough. Anyway . . . here's the recipe:

1 apple

1 orange

1 banana

1 stalk celery

1-2 cups water

fresh spinach

Throw it all into a blender, mix until frothy, serve immediately.

So I tried it. The taste was very similar to that bitter scent of fresh cut grass, especially if you have a mulching mower and happened to have scattered fresh fruit on your lawn prior to mowing. The green froth was less than appetizing and felt quite slimy and unattractive against my upper lip - I definitely don't need mustache fertilizer since mine grows just fine on its own. Nate called me Jack to guilt me into finishing the special smoothie, although I did require a straw to do so.

I don't think I'll be making this liquefied delight anytime soon - I politely declined Courtney's offer to make more for breakfast. Instead, I think I'll save the green superfood for when a feeding tube is my only option. Until then, I'll eat the bulk of my veggies solid.