I started working on this recipe a few months back. I can’t remember how or why, but somehow I stumbled across a recipe for a “Tropical Smoothie” on the Kitchn, with what seemed at the time like an absurd amount of cilantro. As a committed cilantro fanatic, I knew I had to try it. Once I did, though, it just wasn’t exactly where I wanted it to be. I wanted a drink that went down easily and tasted strongly of that pungent green herb, but the recipe as written — while very pleasant — just wasn’t setting off all my tastebuds’ bells and whistles.

I worked on my version off and on, subbing in one thing here, another there, and it seemed like I was getting closer and closer, but I couldn’t quite get over the hump. And then this past week I was home sick with a fever, and suddenly all I wanted in the whole wide world was a cool, refreshing cilantro smoothie. So I pulled on my boots and tramped out through the snow, bought some absurd amount of cilantro and other ingredients, and put myself on lockdown with a blender.

I’m not going to say that this smoothie broke my fever — let’s be real here — but it certainly made me feel better as I binge-watched six hours of Netflix. And at the end of it, through a combination of doggedness and sheer dumb luck, I finally hit the mark. The doggedness was simple repetition: I probably drank a gallon of smoothie in a day. The luck was all about you, dear reader: I was struggling to get the color temperature temperature the photos right for your viewing delectation, and while I was fiddling with camera settings I blended the initial mixture way longer than at first seemed reasonable. That happy accident solved my lingering textural problem. You see, the problem with including a large amount of stems and leaves in a smoothie is that, if you’re not careful, you end up with a blender jar full of stem-and-leaf pulp. Sure, I could strain it, but I’m making a smoothie here, not a fancy restaurant sauce. This really is a case where letting the machine do the work solves problems.

So: I’m glad to let you learn from my trial and error. I know it seems counter-intuitive, but right now — while much of the country is frozen solid — I suggest you fight ice with ice and have a smoothie. It might not cure fevers (though then again it might), but it definitely salves the dreary winter blues.