I think we’re pretty familiar with the green monster.  No, I don’t mean what we affectionately call that giant wall at Fenway Park.  What I mean are those frozen beverages or those blended drinks seen here, here and here.  They are those healthy smoothies that seem to be sweeping the healthy food/lifestyle blogosphere.  Sometimes they contain protein powder, sometimes they contain almond milk, and sometimes they contain a frozen banana.  But almost always they contain a leafy green such as baby spinach or kale.  Hence, that is the reason the smoothie is that particular color, and where the name was derived.  If you haven’t tried it, it’s pretty dang delicious.  However, when the seasons change and it’s no longer hot and humid outside (or even remotely warm), I can’t seem to get into wanting an ice cold smoothie.  I want something warm and filling, and something that’s going to coat my stomach.  Usually at this time of the year, I crave a hot bowl of oats morning, noon and night.  To me, oatmeal might be the perfect food.

When I was drinking my green monster smoothies, I was getting my dose of spinach and/or kale first thing in the morning.  So, if I didn’t have a humungo salad for lunch or dinner that day, then at least I would know I would get my daily intake of greens by consuming my morning beverage of the green monster.  But what was I going to do if I wasn’t going to be having my morning green?  Well, there was really only one answer that sprang to mind…

Green Monster Chia Pancakes

• 1/2 cup of oats
• 1/4 cup of liquid egg whites
• half of a mashed ripened banana
• handful of baby spinach (you could probably also use kale)
• 1/2 TSP of baking powder
• 1/4 cup of unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze
• 2 TSP of chia seeds (I used Greens Plus Omega-3 Chia, you could also use some ground flax seeds)
• few sprinkles of cinnamon
• lil’ bit o’ sea salt
• scoop of protein powder – optional

1) Add all of the above ingredients to your blender.  Start off by blending slowly.  Because there isn’t too much liquid inside, you want to keep scraping down the ingredients from the sides of the blender with a spoon after every few seconds of mixing/pulsing.  Keep stopping your blender, scraping down and blending until your mixture becomes that of a pancake batter consistency.

2) Coat your medium-sized frying pan with cooking spray and turn your stove top onto medium/medium-low.  Once the pan has started heating up, turn up the heat to medium and pour your batter into your frying pan (FYI, using a cup with a spout helps when pouring out pancake batter).  I was able to get 3 medium-sized pancakes from this amount of batter.  Feel free to make them any size you want.

3) Let the batter sit untouched for at least 3 minutes on medium heat.  When you can shake your frying pan, and your pancake easily moves from side to side without getting stuck to the bottom, the first side is done.

4) Flip your pancake to its second side and let it cook for another 3 minutes or so.  When it starts looking golden brown on the edges on both sides, your pancake/s is done.

5) Plate your hot cakes and drizzle with maple syrup, agave nectar or maybe even a dollop of Greek yogurt.  EAT UP!

These pancakes were a monster hit!  My tastebuds were loving me, but my eyes couldn’t stop staring at the color of these pancakes.  The shade of green was beautiful!  It was as if I was eating my normal green monster smoothie with a fork and knife.  And like the smoothie, you couldn’t taste the spinach at all.  The banana, almond milk and cinnamon all helped to subtly sweeten the batter.  You wouldn’t even know that there was a vegetable inside, except that the color is pretty much a dead giveaway.  I’ve had pancakes made of oatmeal before, but never once have I blended the ingredients in a blender.  I usually mix and then just dump into the frying pan.  This blended version gave the pancake a much smoother texture, and made them more cake-like.  With the extra kick of protein from the egg whites, these pancakes kept me full for close to three hours.  Once blended, the chia seeds were almost invisible and really didn’t affect the taste, if at all, of the pancake.  But knowing that I was getting some Omega-3’s in my breakfast really made these pancakes even more special.  Not only were they fun to look at, but they were filling, healthy and delicious.  So how’s that for a home run?

(***Perfect for the holiday season!  Add some dried cranberries to the pancake batter after blending, or sprinkle on top of cooked pancakes!***)

What’s your favorite item to put in a green monster smoothie?  And if you’ve never had one, would you now try it?

Namasté,
Nicole