Veggies, veggies and more veggies
Did you know that most people who eat the Standard American Diet (aka SAD) only get about 20% or less of fiber they need on a daily basis? To maintain our health, we should be consuming around 25 grams per day and most aren’t even getting 5 grams. One way to increase your fiber intake, is to have a delicious green smoothie. My smoothie consists of mostly vegetables and a little fruit.
I always make my smoothies with more vegetables than fruit. Because you tend to add more ingredients to a smoothie than you would likely eat in whole form, using too much fruit will overload you with sugar. Even naturally occurring sugar in high quantity can be detrimental to your health.
I add an avocado to my smoothie for added staying power. High quality fats are necessary for a healthy diet and a critical ingredient for a healthy smoothie. Nut butter that has no other ingredient except the nut from which it is extracted, is also a good alternative.
How Green Is My Smoothie
Equipment
- 1 Heavy duty blender This is really hard to do in an old fashioned blender. You really need a high speed turbo blender to do the job
Ingredients
- 1 lb spinach Try to find organic ingredients when you can
- 1 bunch curly parsley To me, the bigger the better but use your own judgment
- 1 cucumber
- 2 green apples
- 1 lemon I use the juice but for more tartness, you can use the whole lemon, rind and all
- 1 lime same as the lemon
- 1 chunk ginger I love the peppery bite of ginger so I use a big chunk. If ginger isn't your favorite, use less but don't eliminate it.
- 6 or so stalks celery use more or less according to your own taste
- 1 avocado, peeled I like the creaminess of the avocado and it adds a high quality fat
- 1 handful frozen strawberries use more or less to your taste
Instructions
- I usually start with the leafy ingredients first then follow with the lemon and lime juice. I blend that into a liquid then add the other ingredients, blending a little more after the addition of each ingredient. The last two ingredients are the avocado and strawberries. Blend everything together until smooth and creamy.I usually add a high quality vegan protein like this one. It makes a complete meal containing high quality protein, vitamins, minerals, fiber, fat and complex carbohydrates. This keeps me satisfied well into the afternoon.
I love to start the day with my green smoothie. I feel like it starts me off on the right foot for a busy, energetic and productive day.
Let me know what you think in the comments.
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Karen, your recipe looks delicious! I’d like to try it and sub arugula for the spinach. Can you recommend a high speed blende?
Hi Victoria…the blender I use is Vita Mix. I’ve had it about 20 years and it runs like a champ. I like the idea of using arugula…I may give that a try. Thanks for checking in.
Hi Karen, nice to see you back. Your smoothie looks delicious and heavy duty. I haven’t been much a fan except in summer. But I might give it a go.
Hi Lily…nice to see you as well. Given that you live in the Great White North, you may want to wait until the warmer weather. In the winter, I offset the cold smoothie with a nice hot mug of green tea. Happy New Year! Now I’m off to see what pearls you’ve dropped for us.
That sounds like a really healthy smoothie! I think you’re right – we probably put more fruit in than we would eat if we weren’t blending it.
I really like it and it feels good when I eat/drink it. If you have ever cooked fresh spinach, you know how, what seems like a LOT of spinach, cooks down to almost nothing. That’s what happens with this smoothie.