Whenever I make this, my kitchen fills with a delightful aroma. The best part is how versatile it is. Whether I’m hosting a party or just enjoying a movie night at home, za’atar popcorn is always a hit. With just a few ingredients like olive oil and salt, I can whip up this snack in no time.

This recipe not only pleases my taste buds but also brings a bit of Middle Eastern flair to my table. If I feel like adding a bit of heat, a dash of cayenne does the trick, adding an exciting twist. Trust me; once you try this za’atar popcorn, you’ll never look at plain popcorn the same way again!

Creating delicious za’atar popcorn involves preparing a flavorful spice mix, popping the corn to perfection, and seasoning it just right. I’ll guide you through each step to make this tasty snack.

Keep in mind that I am biased here since I love Mediterranean flavors. Also, popcorn is my favorite snack and I like to mix it to special flavors like Mexican Street Corn-Style Popcorn or with everything bagel seasoning.

This recipes is a simple as it gets. Make the popcorn in a way of your choosing. drizzle some oil and sprinkle zaatar with salt.

Storage Tips

I find that storing popcorn in an airtight container works best. It keeps the popcorn from getting stale or soggy. It’s important to store the container at room temperature.

When stored correctly, my za’atar popcorn stays fresh for up to a week.

Nutritional Information

Calories: A regular serving of popcorn, about 3 cups, contains around 90-100 calories. Adding za’atar and olive oil might increase the count to about 150-175 calories.

Fats: Olive oil provides healthy fats, mainly monounsaturated. Using about 1 tablespoon of olive oil adds around 14 grams of fat.

Carbohydrates and Fiber: Popcorn is rich in carbohydrates, offering about 18 grams per 3 cups. It’s also a good source of dietary fiber, which can help with digestion.

Protein: Though not a high-protein snack, you’ll get about 3 grams from a 3-cup serving of popcorn.

Za’atar Benefits: Packed with herbs like thyme and sumac, za’atar spices add flavor with minimal calories. These herbs might have their own health benefits, including antioxidants.

Nutritional Table:

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Zaatar Popcorn

This flavorful Zaatar Popcorn is a delicious twist on the classic snack. Freshly popped kernels are drizzled with olive oil and tossed in a savory zaatar seasoning, creating a light and herby treat that's perfect for movie nights or anytime snacking.

Course Snack

Keyword popcorn, zaatar

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 2 people

Author Jessica

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup popcorn kernels
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon zaatar seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste

Instructions

• Pop the Corn: In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the popcorn kernels, cover the pot, and shake occasionally as the kernels begin to pop. Continue shaking the pot gently until the popping slows down, then remove from heat.
• Season the Popcorn: In a small bowl, mix the zaatar seasoning and salt. Drizzle the remaining olive oil (or melted butter) over the freshly popped popcorn and toss to coat evenly.
• Add Zaatar: Sprinkle the zaatar mixture over the popcorn, tossing it well to ensure the seasoning is distributed.
• Serve: Transfer the popcorn to a bowl and enjoy this savory, herby snack with a Middle Eastern twist!

<p>The post Zaatar Popcorn Recipe first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>

Imagine the satisfying crunch of popcorn with a buttery, garlicky base, topped with a mix of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, garlic, onion, and a hint of salt. This snack not only adds an exciting flavor profile to your popcorn but also brings a bit of that bagel shop magic right into your home. It’s a hit for family movie nights or even as a quick, flavorful snack throughout the day.

Popping your popcorn fresh on the stove, microwave or using your favorite hot air popper, you can achieve that perfect, light texture every time. Then, by drizzling it with melted butter and generously sprinkling the everything bagel seasoning, you’ll have a treat that’s both irresistible and incredibly easy to prepare. Enjoy this snack while watching your favorite movie or sharing laughs with family and friends.

Why You’ll Love This Snack

This Everything Bagel Popcorn is a great choice for your next snack.

It’s easy to make and tastes delicious. Perfect for movie nights or game days. You just need popcorn, butter, and everything bagel seasoning.

You’ll enjoy the mix of flavors. The seasoning adds a savory taste with a hint of garlic, onion, and poppy seeds. Your taste buds will thank you!

Making this snack can be a fun activity for the whole family. Kids love shaking the bowl to coat the popcorn. It’s a tasty yet simple recipe.

Plus, it’s a bit more nutritious than other snacks. You can even opt for a vegan or low-fat version by using coconut oil instead of butter.

Serve this popcorn at parties or family gatherings. It’s sure to be a hit with everyone. Tasty, easy, and quick to make—it ticks all the boxes for a perfect snack!

What is Everything Bagel Seasoning

This blend typically includes:

• Sesame seeds: Adds a nutty taste and a bit of crunch.
• Poppy seeds: Contributes a slightly tart flavor and additional texture.
• Dried minced onion: Offers a sweet, savory flavor.
• Garlic powder: Enhances with a robust, savory punch.
• Kosher salt: Balances flavors and brings everything together.

You can find premade everything bagel seasoning at the store or mix your own. Adjusting the amounts lets you customize the flavor profile to suit your taste.

I usually buy one from Trader Joe’s (that is the one I used for this recipe) or from Costco (if you are a heavy everything user).

Make Your Own Everything Bagel Seasoning

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1 tablespoon dried minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
• 1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black sesame seeds (optional, for additional color)

Instructions:

Gather all the ingredients and measure them out precisely to ensure the correct balance of flavors.

In a small bowl, combine the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried minced garlic, dried minced onion, coarse sea salt, and black sesame seeds (if using).

Nutritional Information

When you make Everything Bagel Popcorn at home, you control the ingredients and their amounts. This allows you to tailor the snack to your nutritional needs.

Popcorn itself is a great whole grain. One serving (about 3 cups popped) contains roughly:

• Calories: 90
• Dietary Fiber: 3.5g
• Protein: 3g

Adding the Everything Bagel seasoning brings in extra flavor but also some nutrients.

Step-by-Step Preparing Guide

Preparing the Popcorn

Start by choosing how to pop your popcorn. You can use a stovetop, microwave, or an air popper. Each method works fine, so pick whatever suits you best.

Once popped, place about 8 cups of popcorn in a large bowl.

Combining the Ingredients

Melt 2-4 tablespoons of butter (vegan butter works too). In a small bowl, stir the melted butter with a teaspoon of garlic powder.

Drizzle half the butter mixture over the popcorn and toss to coat evenly. Sprinkle half the everything bagel seasoning and mix well. Repeat with the remaining butter and seasoning.

Make sure each piece is well-coated. To ensure even distribution, shake the bowl with a lid on it, if you have one.

Serve immediately for the best flavor and crunch. Enjoy your Everything Bagel Popcorn as a unique and tasty snack!

Storage and Freshness

To keep your Everything Bagel Popcorn fresh, store it in an airtight container. This helps to prevent the popcorn from becoming stale.

After you’ve made your tasty treat, let it cool completely before placing it into the container. This step is important to avoid moisture buildup, which can make the popcorn soggy.

Tips for Best Results:

• Use an airtight container: Ensure it seals well to keep out air and moisture.
• Store at room temperature: Keep the container in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight.
• Eat within a week: For the best taste and texture, consume your popcorn within 7 days.

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Everything Bagel Popcorn

One of the best snacks out there! The popcorn and the everything seasoning are both rich with good nutrients like fiber, protein and more! Perfect for entertaining, movie nights or day snacking!

Course Snack

Keyword healthy, popcorn, snack

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Author Jessica

Ingredients

• 8 cups plain popped popcorn
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
• 2 tablespoon Everything Bagel Seasoning

Instructions

• Place your popped popcorn in a large bowl.
• Drizzle the melted butter over the popcorn and toss until well coated.
• Sprinkle the Everything Bagel Seasoning over the popcorn and toss until you cover as much as you can.

<p>The post Everything Bagel Popcorn Recipe: A Tasty Snack Twist first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>

In trying to figure all of this out for my family, I have decided that it is important to try to maintain the snack and mealtime structure we have during the school year.  I try to stick to our snack routine to make sure that the mealtimes are still the main focus. For us that means a small mid-afternoon snack (now that my kids are older the mid-morning snack has disappeared– at least on most days), which always includes either a fruit or a vegetable, or both. Recently, that hasn’t been cutting it for my 9-year-old in the late afternoons, so I have told him that he can eat as many fruits and vegetables as he wants between afternoon snack and dinner. That way, he can munch away and I don’t need to worry about empty calories. Win-win! That being said, however, I do think it is important not to get so bogged down in the rules that we forget to have fun and relax. Afterall, we want our kids to have a healthy and happy relationship with food, rather than a rigid one, so there is definitely a time and place for flexibility and ice cream! 

Here are some of our fun, favorite, simple snacks that help us make it through the summertime snack attacks:

Watermelon: In slices, in chunks, or quickly pureed for watermelon water. This cooling, refreshing, and rehydrating treat is a go-to in our house.

Frozen smoothies: Make a batch of your family’s favorite smoothies but instead of pouring them into glasses, freeze them in popsicle molds.  Then you’ve got fun popsicles for an afternoon treat!

Summer Fruit Kebabs: Grab a skewer and load it with your favorite summer fruits! Berries, melons, chunks of stone fruit, it is all delicious! Plus you can dip them in the sweet yogurt dip below!

Sweet Yogurt Dip: Cut up some of your favorite summer fruits and dip away in this healthy and easy mixture.

Juice and fruit popsicles. Next time you make juice popsicles, throw some blueberries, raspberries, or small pieces of cut up summer fruit into the molds as well. Your kids will flip for these fun treats!

Homemade Granola Bars: These are fun to make with kids and very portable, great for picnics and day trips.

Kale Chips: Kale is incredibly plentiful in the summer, so kale chips are a great salty, crunchy snack.

Popcorn: Popped on the stove and then seasoned with nutritional yeast, parmesan, garam masala, chili powder, Mexican blend or just salt.

What are your favorite summertime snacks? Do you have favorites from your own childhood?

<p>The post Healthy Summertime Snacks first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>

One day over the summer I desperately needed to go to the grocery store and I needed to do a real shop, not just pick a few things up, because our pantry was incredibly bare.

Unfortunately, though, school was out and camps had not started yet, which meant I had two boys with me who had no interest in going grocery shopping. 

What’s a mom to do? Bribe. So I did. I bribed them with a treat each if they would help me out and not beg and plead for each thing that caught their interest.

They agreed. So in we went.

We had made it through the produce section and were entering the bulk foods when my little one cried out, “YOGURT PRETZELS!!” And then my older one cried out, “YOGURT PRETZELS!!” These two kids could not be more different in their taste in food- my younger loves all things protein (read: meat) and my older is a vegetable addict- so this was a rare moment.

I was about to say, “Great! Yogurt pretzels can be your treat!” When a little voice inside my head said, “But what is actually in yogurt pretzels?” I had looked it up before and deep down I knew the answer: Not yogurt.

Yogurt pretzels do have a tiny, tiny bit of dehydrated yogurt in them, but mostly the coating is confectioner’s sugar. So really what they were asking for was candy and I wasn’t a big fan of that idea.

But inspiration struck and I said, “what if we made our OWN yogurt pretzels?!” Luckily they loved the idea.

So that afternoon I poked around online and found that I really wasn’t gong to be able to make yogurt pretzels, but I came across a couple of yogurt sauces.

So the boys and I created our own version.

This has become our go-to dessert.

It is healthy, delicious, and fun- kids LOVE to dip! I have even used it as the treat at school birthday celebrations instead of cupcakes/cookies/etc. and the kids loved it.

The best part of this recipe? It takes 1 minute to make.

Ok, maybe 2 if you include washing the fruit.

A small note, I make this with organic whole milk plain yogurt. In fact, that is the only kind of yogurt we have in the house.

Here is why: 1) whole milk yogurt has good fats, 2) flavored yogurts have CRAZY amounts of sugar in them- one serving has as much sugar as a bowl of ice cream!, and 3) it is more flexible.

I use it in baking, in savory sauces, and, clearly, as a dessert.

I hope you and your kids enjoy this one as much as we do.

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1-Minute Dessert: Sweet Yogurt Dip

Course Dessert

Prep Time 1 minute minute

Total Time 1 minute minute

Servings 2

Author Jessica Braider

Ingredients

• ½ cup whole milk plain yogurt preferably organic
• 1 teaspoon honey or more, depending on how sweet you want it
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla
• dash of cinnamon

Instructions

• Mix the four ingredients together. If needed, add more honey to taste. Serve with pretzels and fresh fruit (grapes, strawberries, blueberries, apples pieces, and melon pieces have all been big hits in our household) with toothpicks for dipping.

<p>The post 1-Minute Dessert: Sweet Yogurt Dip first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>

Over the years I have experimented with lots of different toppings: garam masala, za’atar, chili powder, cinnamon, parmesan, and nutritional yeast are some of my favorites. But in honor of Cinco de Mayo this year I wanted to push the envelope and try something different: Mexican Street Corn-Style Popcorn.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Mexican Street Corn (Elotes), it is a wonderful concoction of grilled corn that is then slathered in a creamy, citrusy dressing and then topped with salty cheese. In other words: heaven. If you ever have the chance, definitely get it! But I wanted to try to find a way to put that creamy, citrusy, smoky goodness onto popcorn as a fun and festive snack.

Now, I do have to warn you that this popcorn is just a tad addictive. Even last night, after having dinner and dessert, I reached into the leftovers bag for “just one more bite” and found myself shoveling handfuls into my mouth, with my husband pushing me aside to get his hand in the bag too! So when you make it either prepare to ruin your dinner, exercise great restraint, or serve it to a larger group.

A note on popping popcorn yourself: for those of you who have never made popcorn from the kernel before, don’t worry! It is very simple to do and, like so many other foods, once you have made the homemade version, the stuff that comes in a bag just won’t seem worth it. But, if that feels too scary, then buy the store stuff (you’ll need 6-8 cups), as plain and unseasoned as you can get, and then use the dressing to top it off.

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Mexican Street Corn-Style Popcorn

Course Snack

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Jessica Braider

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon coconut or canola oil
• ¾ cup popcorn kernels
• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted
• 2 Tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

• Heat the coconut oil in a large pot over a medium-high heat. If using coconut oil, let it completely melt. Add 3 or 4 popcorn kernels and put the lid on the pot.
• When the kernels start to pop, pour in the rest of the kernels and put the top on again. Swirl the kernels around so that they get coated in oil. Let the popcorn start popping and shake it occasionally to allow the un-popped kernels to sink to the bottom.
• While you wait for the popcorn to pop, combine the melted butter and mayonnaise in a small bowl and whisk to combine.
• The popcorn is done popping when there is about 1 second between pops.
• Dump the popcorn into a large bowl and pour the lime zest, chili powder, and salt on top. Mix gently, just to spread out the toppings a little bit.
• Pour the butter and mayonnaise mixture on top and then stir well, I just used my hands, to make sure everything is well coated.

<p>The post Mexican Street Corn-Style Popcorn first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>

If taking a step outside of your comfort zone sometimes involves cooking, then I’ve got some great recipes for you in this Recipe Roundup! The first two recipes in the Roundup came about because one of my clients gave me some homemade goat milk paneer (Indian cheese) and since Saag Paneer is one of my all-time favorite dishes, I jumped at the chance to make it for the first time, so an Indian dinner was in the cards. The waffle recipe is a game changer if you are a fan of waffles that are crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside. And the Southwestern Spinach and Black Bean Dip is likely to become a go-to in our house. Are you ready to step out of your bubble and try a new recipe?

Saag Paneer: Spinach with Indian Cheese after poking around online for a while I settled on this recipe because it seemed to be the most manageable. Instead of using frozen spinach I used spinach from my farm share, I used coconut oil instead of vegetable oil, and I skipped the chili pepper in the hopes that my boys would be more open to eating it. Other than those modifications, I followed the recipe closely and the outcome was AMAZING. I could have eaten it for a week straight. My boys still weren’t convinced, but did eat the little bit that they each had on their plate, and my husband loved it almost as much as I did.

Make again? Absolutely and soon!!

Potato Curry with Peas and Carrots I made this to accompany the Saag Paneer because I was confident that my boys would enjoy it, and I was right. I found the directions on this recipe to be a little vague for my taste, but I have made enough curries that I could figure it out. It did take longer than I had anticipated, but the flavors were fantastic and it was relatively simple to make.

Make again? Yes. But I’ll probably type up my own directions to follow. Maybe I’ll post that recipe sometime soon…

Best Homemade Waffle Recipe I stumbled upon this recipe last weekend as I was trying to find a waffle recipe that only required one egg. The secret ingredient in this recipe is cornstarch and I have to say that I am a convert! I made this recipe using spelt flour instead of all purpose flour, to add some whole grain heft, and they were still light and fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside. All four of us LOVED these waffles. Two quick notes: 1) the batter is much runnier than any other waffle batter I have ever made and seemed to require more batter per waffle, so be prepared and 2) I will never make a single batch of this recipe again. Even for my family of four, this recipe was barely enough for breakfast and I guarantee you will want leftovers for the freezer.

Make again? Yes! This is going to be my new go-to waffle recipe!

Southwestern Spinach Black Bean Dip I made this to take as a side dish to a taco night at a friend’s house. Instead of canned corn I used frozen and I added a bunch more spice, but other than that I followed the recipe. It was delicious, filling, and packed with spinach. It also makes a TON! We gorged on it and there was still a lot leftover, which I then mixed with some leftover chicken to make a variation on my baked chimichangas, which were the biggest hit of the week in my house.

Make again? Definitely and definitely will turn the leftovers into baked chimichangas again, too!

<p>The post Recipe Roundup: May and Early June Edition first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>

Sometimes the best things are simple. Super simple. That was a lesson I was reminded of as I worked to develop a recipe for this Sabra hummus recipe contest organized by The Recipe Redux. You see, I kept trying to come up with some innovative, creative, blow-your-mind-surprising use of hummus. Hummus croquettes and sweet potato toast towers were two of the almost-blogworthy recipes I worked on. Both of them were good, both of them were kind of fun, but as I sat down to write about them I just couldn’t get inspired. And then yesterday it kind of hit me: I was just trying too hard. I was making things more complicated than they really needed to be. So I pushed those two recipes aside, perhaps I’ll come back to them at another time, and decided to keep things simple.

Honestly, when I stop to think about it, making things too complicated has been kind of a theme in my life recently, as well as the hope that I can instead simplify (please tell me I’m not alone in this struggle). This recipe was a wonderful reminder for me that simple is often better. That sometimes we have to let go of our over-inflated expectations for a more balanced reality that will actually make us happier, as is the case with this rockstar, super simple dip.

So in honor of National Hummus Day on May 13^th, I give you my Mediterranean Spinach Dip. A super simple, vegetarian, plant-based protein powerhouse of a snack that takes all of 5 minutes to make. Everyone in my family went nuts for this one and an added bonus is that it is another opportunity to get vegetables into everyone’s diet without cajoling or reminding. It works really well with crackers or chips, but also with crudité. My husband also recommends using it as a spread in a sandwich. Haven’t tried this yet myself, but it sounds amazing! Enjoy!

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Mediterranean Spinach Dip

Course Appetizer, Snack

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Jessica Braider

Ingredients

• 3 cups frozen spinach thawed and drained
• 1 cup Sabra Classic Hummus
• ½ cup crumbled feta
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon thyme
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

• In a food processor, blender, or with an immersion blender, blend all the ingredients until smooth. Serve with vegetables, tortillas chips, or pita chips.

<p>The post Mediterranean Spinach Dip first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>

In honor of Earth Day on April 22, we’re challenging ReDux members to show how they reduce food waste. Whatever you would normally toss, use it up. Share tips for reducing food waste in meal planning, prep or using up scraps.

There are so many reasons, from environmental to financial, why reducing food waste is a great goal and if I am being totally honest, it is an area that is still a work in progress for me. While I almost never let cooked food go to waste, I struggle with what to do with all of my vegetable scraps since I don’t have a yard big enough for a compost bin. Some of them I store in gallon-sized freezer bags to use when I make vegetable or chicken broth, but often times those bags (yes, there is more than one) reach capacity and so then I end up tossing peels, ends, and cores—and feeling guilty about it every time. Not very productive, I know.

So, if you are like me and throwing food away makes you crazy, here are some ways to at least start reducing food waste that have worked for me. And, please, please, please share your tips and tricks in the comments so we all can benefit!

1. Keep ends of bread or stale bread in a freezer bag to be used for breadcrumbs. When you find yourself facing those straggler pieces of bread that you know no one will ever eat, rip them up into small pieces and toss them in the bag. Then, when you have a need or when you have some time when you’ll just be kicking it around the house, pour the bread pieces out on to a cookie sheet and put it in a 200 degree oven. Let them slowly dry out in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour, or until all the pieces are super dry, then throw them into your food processor and run it until you have bread crumbs! I do this from time to time and then store them in a sealed jar in my pantry to use as needed.
2. Keep vegetable scraps in freezer bags for making homemade broth. I do this with onion peels, green onion stalks, carrot and celery ends, the stems from greens, mushroom tips, etc. When you want to make the broth, just throw them in a pot, fill with water until just covering the scraps, toss in some bay leaves, thyme, salt, and pepper. Bring it all to a boil, then turn down to low and simmer for as long as possible, at least 2 hours. Strain and save for your recipes. I like to save mine in 4-cup portions since that is the most often needed amount.
3. Throw parmesan rinds into soups. Just fish them out when the soup is ready. This will add a depth of flavor and works especially well with minestrones and pureed vegetable soups.
4. Turn your potato or sweet potato peels into crisps! The skin is where many of the nutrients are stored, so tossing these always makes me sad. But no more! These nutrient-packed snacks are so simple, so good, and can be changed up easily by tossing in a spice of choice (chili powder, garam masala, cinnamon, etc.). Here’s the super simple recipe:

<p>The post Potato Skin Crisps and 4 Easy Ways to Reduce Food Waste first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>

These muffins are super simple to make (especially if you cheat and buy the already cooked beets like I did)! It is pretty much a dump, mix, and spoon out muffin mix. They are sweet enough to be a tasty breakfast or a healthy snack for the big day.

So whip these up this weekend for a nice little surprise for your family, your co-workers, or anyone else who could use a little extra love!

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Beet Rosemary Muffins

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Author Jessica Braider

Ingredients

• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 4 small to medium cooked beets
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups spelt or whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts optional

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 and spray your muffin tin or line it with muffin liners.
• Cream the butter and honey in a food processor. Add the beets and eggs and puree until the beets are smooth.
• Add the flour, rosemary, baking soda, and salt and mix until just combined.
• Add walnuts, if using, and mix until well combined.
• Spoon out batter into muffin tin and bake for 20 minutes.
• Remove from oven and cool on rack.

<p>The post Beet Rosemary Muffins first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>

By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by the Wild Blueberry Association of North America and I am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.

The other night I stopped by a friend’s house and we got to lamenting the fruit selection at this time of year. The citrus is ok and sometimes you can find a good pineapple, but the apples are past their prime and berries are way out of season. In short, it is a bummer. So that is when I shared my secret to surviving the mid-winter fruit doldrums: frozen fruit! This is the time of year when I stock up on frozen berries each week and use them to mix into yogurt and oatmeal, bake them in desserts, and make smoothies. So when I was invited to participate in the Wild Your Smoothie Recipe Contest I was psyched because it meant I could share one of my absolute favorite smoothies made with my hands-down favorite frozen fruit: wild blueberries.

If you have never tried wild blueberries, you are missing out! They are what blueberries are supposed to taste like—a sweet and tart flavor explosion in your mouth! They have a much stronger blueberry flavor because the plants are wild and genetically-diverse with thousands of interlocking plants spreading naturally across fields called barrens. As I kid I loved picking wild blueberries, but they can be hard to find, so now I depend on the frozen version, which miraculously keep their flavor and nutrition since they are individual quick-frozen at harvest. The other perk of wild blueberries is that they have twice (!) the antioxidant capacity of the larger, cultivated blueberries and can help with gut health, diabetes, cancer, and brain health. Pretty amazing, right?! And here’s the best part: frozen wild blueberries are super easy to find since almost every grocery store has them!

Ok. So now let’s talk about this smoothie. It is, in a word, heavenly. I am not a big fan of those super, sweet one-note smoothies that make you feel virtuous but don’t really have much interest to them. I like smoothies to have a kick, something that makes them different and interesting. And this one fits the bill! Between the super blueberry-ness and the ginger and cardamom, you’ve got layers of flavor that make you feel like you are drinking a decadent, creamy, luscious treat, while still getting an amazing nutritional boost with greens, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatories all in one. Ready to dive in? Here’s the recipe!

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Wild Blueberry Flavor Burst Smoothie

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 1 -2

Author Jessica Braider

Ingredients

• 1 cup frozen wild blueberries
• 1 cup milk or milk alternative of your choice
• 1 banana
• 1 or 2 handfuls of baby spinach about 1 cup
• ½ cup pineapple fresh, frozen, or canned
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger
• ½ teaspoon cardamom

Instructions

• Combine all the ingredients in your blender and puree until smooth. Enjoy.

<p>The post Wild Blueberry Flavor Burst Smoothie first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>