By September 2022. Fall in Memphis, and I am 63, walking the neighborhood in my light jacket, watching the leaves turn on the oaks and maples that line Deadrick Avenue. The smoker is happy in fall — the cooler air holds the smoke lower, keeps it closer to the meat, and the results are always a shade better in October than in July, as if the season itself is a seasoning.
Rosetta beside me through the week, steady as ever, the woman who runs this household with the precision of a hospital ward and the heart of a mother who has loved fiercely for 38 years of marriage.
Comfort food this week: a big pot of collard greens with smoked turkey neck, simmered for three hours until the greens were dark and silky and the pot liquor was a treasure. The kitchen smelled like Mama's kitchen in the shotgun house, and I stood at the stove and stirred and thought about hands — her hands, small and strong, teaching mine everything they know about turning humble ingredients into something that feeds not just the body but the soul.
I sat in the lawn chair next to Uncle Clyde's smoker as the dark came on, and I thought about what I always think about: the chain. From Clyde to me. From me to Trey, maybe, or Jerome, or whoever comes next with the patience and the hands and the willingness to stand next to a fire at three in the morning and wait for something good to happen. The chain doesn't break. The fire doesn't stop. And I am here, 63 years old, in a lawn chair in Orange Mound, Memphis, Tennessee, watching the smoke rise, and the rising is the living, and the living is the gift.
The collard greens stayed with me all week — that dark, silky pot liquor, the way the kitchen smelled like Mama’s, the reminder that greens in any form are medicine for the body and the spirit. So when the mornings turned crisp and I wanted something that honored that love of green without firing up the stove for three hours, I turned to this Mean Green Smoothie Bowl: fast, bright, cold, and loaded with everything good — a different kind of greens for a different time of day, but the same intention behind it.
Mean Green Smoothie Bowls
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 10 minutes | Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach, packed
- 1 cup frozen mango chunks
- 1 large ripe banana, sliced and frozen
- 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk (or more as needed)
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
- Toppings: 1/4 cup granola, 1/2 banana (sliced), 1/4 cup fresh blueberries, 1 tablespoon chia seeds, drizzle of honey
Instructions
- Blend the base. Add the spinach, frozen mango, frozen banana, Greek yogurt, almond milk, honey, and ginger to a high-powered blender. Blend on high until completely smooth and thick. If the mixture is too thick to blend, add almond milk one tablespoon at a time until it moves freely. The bowl should be thick enough that a spoon stands upright.
- Check consistency. The smoothie base should be noticeably thicker than a drinkable smoothie — almost like soft-serve ice cream. If it’s too thin, add a few more frozen mango chunks and blend again briefly.
- Pour and divide. Divide the green smoothie base evenly between two wide, shallow bowls.
- Add toppings. Working quickly before the base warms, arrange the granola, banana slices, and blueberries across the top of each bowl. Sprinkle with chia seeds and finish with a light drizzle of honey.
- Serve immediately. These bowls are best enjoyed right away while the base is still cold and thick. Set out a spoon and eat like a bowl of ice cream — slow, deliberate, and grateful.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 340 | Protein: 12g | Fat: 6g | Carbs: 62g | Fiber: 7g | Sodium: 105mg