365 Vegan Smoothies: Kudos to Kathy Patalsky for her beautiful new book!

I suspect the 365 allusion is fully intentional, and expresses you would do well with a smoothie a day, a different smoothie every day of the year. How exciting is that? Not for nothing does Kathy run a blog called Happy Healthy Life. Whether sweet or savory, they pack in quite a punch, in every imaginable way: Gorgeous, nutritious, delicious, they often come close to a small meal. Your blender will become your best friend. Mine never stops!

Vegan Smoothies is packed with seductive pictures.

And seductive names that sound more suited for teenage book titles and summer flicks than vegan smoothies: Green Kiss. Quiet Bluebird. Coolheaded Flower. Blueberry Brainiac. Pink-Hearted Power. Imagine that! Elopement, dream and wholesomeness all yours, in a tall frosted glass, to enjoy with no guilt whatsoever.

The best part is, all ingredients are obtainable and accessible, none of those esoteric and highfallutin stuff that seems reserved for some groupies on a spartan detox diet. This is real and honest food. It doesn’t hurt that they are all vegan smoothies, containing no milk or yogurt anywhere.

Kathy gives equal time to sweet and savory vegan smoothies.

She sneaks only the best and most nutritious ingredients everywhere, pairing some hard to like leaves with more popular and more familiar fruit and veggies, so they can escape detection and work their unseen magic even while they taste delicious: spinach with kiwi, kale and mango, even oats and peaches and much more. The more improbable the better. None of Kathy’s vegan smoothies uses excessive sweetness, nor do they need to rely on it, packed as they are with such flavorful and aromatic ingredients. One more fantastic thing I notice: Less ice, more frozen fruit. Not only no fruit will go to waste, but all smoothies will be more intensely flavored and will need and less sugar. The sweetness comes mostly from the fruit, so they are less caloric, more fruity and more nourishing. Did you want your children to eat their veggies and their fruits? They will with this book, I guarantee it!

There is nothing Kathy hasn’t thought of: Even before she gets on with the good stuff, she includes a few short and clear chapters listing all the ingredients that fit to blend, smoothie-making techniques and troubleshooting, wellness themes. These smoothies will be equally at home as a meal and as dessert. What’s not to love?