Fiction-Food Café: Dill Fruit Smoothie

I recently saw The Grinch, the Illumination computer animated adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, with my little family and really enjoyed it! I kind of want to see it again. :) We re-watched the 2000 live-action adaptation with Jim Carrey a few days later, and then a few days after that re-watched the 1966 animated TV special. I did check the library for the original 1957 Dr. Seuss book, but of course it was checked out, it being Christmastime and all. ;)
The new Grinch adaptation is different from the others in that it is gentler. I'm not sure how to put it really but that's what came to mind. It might sound lame, but it really appealed to me. The Grinch isn't cruel in this one (well, he's not "nice" either), and no one is cruel to him. He's simply a person who is negative and anti-social because of past experiences and the subsequent self-imposed isolation. He's a brilliant inventor and, different from the past iterations, is good to his dog Max. Also, there is no romance (thank goodness!) like there was in the live-action adaptation. And no adult humor. It really is a great family movie that's perfect for little and big kids.

Did you know that in the original (1957) Dr. Seuss story, the Grinch is simply drawn in black and white, with the only color being pink eyes? It wasn't until the 1966 animated TV special that he was turned green! It was so spot on though that eventually later printings of the book got a green Grinch on the cover, and every iteration of him since then has been vivid green. (Also, did you know that there was another Grinch TV special in 1977 called "Halloween is Grinch Night", and in 1982 called "The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat"?)
I really liked the way the Grinch's sure was designed and animated in this new version, so I wanted to represent it in this smoothie! So I created the light and darker green layers and zig-zagged them to look like fur. And the little tuft of hair on the Grinch's head totally reminded me of a dill sprig (it does get mistaken for a little clump of grass in the film!) so I went with a dill smoothie! Dill might sound weird in a smoothie but it's totally good (and healthy)! Don't worry, you won't be tempted to take a taste and spit it back out (and put it in someone else's shopping basket...).

Note: This recipe makes 3–3 1/2 cups of smoothie mixture, more than one serving, so feel free to reduce the quantities of ingredients if needed. If you'd like to thin out the smoothie, you can add more pineapple juice, but how about white cranberry juice? That's nice too. :) Also, if you'd like to add a bit more cheer to the presentation, you could whip up some whipped cream with matcha powder (1 C heavy cream, 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar, 1-2 tsp. matcha powder), pipe it on top of the smoothies, & then put on some little red heart sprinkles or a fresh strawberry slice cut like a heart, & top with the dill sprig. ;)

Grinch Dill Fruit Smoothie

(Makes about 3–3 1/2 Cups)
Ingredients:
1 C Loose Fresh Dill, stems removed + whole sprigs for garnish
3/4 Cup Frozen Chopped Mango
1 1/2 C Pineapple Juice
1 Avocado
1 Clementine Orange, peeled, any pesky seeds removed
1/2 Banana
2 Tbsp. Agave Syrup
1 Tbsp. Lime Juice
1/2 mounded tsp. Green Spirulina Powder (optional for 'fur' look)
Red & White Striped Straws

Directions:
Put the dill, mango, avocado, clementine segments, banana, agave syrup, lime juice, & pineapple juice into a standing blender. 'Ice Crush' mode first, & then blend/liquify until smooth (older/lower powered blenders will take several minutes). Adjust ingredients to your taste, like adding more agave if you'd like ti sweeter, or adding in the other 1/2 of banana if you'd like.

If making the 'fur' look: Pour all of the mixture into a suitably-sized container like a pitcher, & then put about 2/3 cup of mixture back into the blender. Add in the spirulina powder & blend until fully incorporated.

Spoon some of the light green smoothie, at least 1", into a clear cup, & then spoon (do not pour!) a thinner layer the darker green mixture against the cup sides on top of the light green; no need to spoon dark green in the center, only around the sides. Spoon on a layer of the light green, thicker than the dark green, & so on, alternating, & ending with light green on top. You can make several small cups, or 2 larger ones.

Use a skewer to make the 'fur' look by sliding it down the inside of the cup against the sides & drawing it up again, repeatedly. Top with an upright fresh sprig of dill & slide in a red & white striped straw.