I’ve never tried broccoli in a smoothie before. It’s never occurred to me to put it into my drinks as I thought the texture might be a little odd. So when my friend Andrea from Zen Pilates sent me this recipe for a guest post, I was intrigued how it would both look and taste. I called this post The Green Smoothie in Disguise as the berries make it a pretty purple and the blended raw broccoli is cleverly hidden within their seedy texture.
Andrea is not only an awesome Pilates and Piloxing instructor at her Mt Lawley studio, but also a qualified Dietitian and one of the kindest people you’ll ever meet. She walks her talk more than anyone I know. I mean, look!
(photo by the amazing Alana Blowfield)
Hope you enjoy Andrea’s green smoothie recipe.
I was recently eating salad and my friend commented that I didn’t have any protein in my snack! Did you know Green Vegetables are rich in PROTEIN and jam packed high in micro-nutrients? My favourite Green Smoothie this summer is simple: a nutritious post-cardio exercise snack that will boost your protein intake and help to refuel glycogen levels in your muscles and liver. Or, simply enjoy as a way to boost the greens and micronutrient level in your diet.
SIMPLE GREEN SMOOTHIE
1 FROZEN BANANA 1/2 CUP FROZEN BERRIES 1/2 CUP SPINACH, (or kale or any green leafy vegetable) 1 CUP BROCCOLI FLORETS, CHOPPED 1 CUP COCONUT WATER
A FEW ICE CUBES
Mix in a blender and off you go!
Remember to NOURISH yourself every day. You can never eat too many greens!
Have a fabulous weekend everyone. Do something you enjoy!
x Andrea – Zen Pilates Perth
This is the juice I make again and again and again. Most mornings, in fact. I grab the ingredients on autopilot out of the fridge, stick them through Oscar The Juicer, pour it into a jar and head off to work.
Good stuff in this juice:
Apples hit you up with potassium, phosphorus, calcium, manganese, magnesium, iron and zinc (and makes all the green stuff in the juice more palatable).
Celery is alkalizing and provides vitamins A and K. It also contains a heap of sodium which is what makes it taste kind of salty. The good news is that natural plant sodium is soluble and organic and is essential for your body. Organic, or live salt lets your body use the other nutrients you’re consuming. It works like this: all the cells in our body are constantly bathed in a salt solution. If this gets out of balance, we get dehydrated. So celery juice is a winner in summer for staying hydrated. Nature’s sports drink, minus the bright blue colouring.
Lemon juice is full of vitamin C and boosts your immunity.
Kale looks after your blood and bones – it delivers masses of vitamins K, A and C.
Mint is sweet and cooling and provides a little vitamin A and manganese.
DAILY GREEN JUICE
2 GREEN APPLES 1/2 LEMON, PEELED 2 LEAVES KALE, WITH STALKS 2 STALKS CELERY, WITH LEAVES
2-3 SPRINGS OF FRESH MINT
Run all ingredients through a juicer, stir or shake before drinking. It’s good on ice, too.
Make it into something else: If you blend this juice with 1/2 an avocado, it makes a yummy raw soup for a light summer meal or snack.
This super yummy smoothie recipe is a guest post from my beautiful friend Gráinne who runs Karratha Yoga. If you’re up in the West Australian Pilbara region, be sure to check out her classes. Thanks for sharing your recipe, Gráinne! If you want to keep this smoothie raw, replace the soy milk with coconut water or almond milk.
When I was in my 20s I spent eighteen months living in one of the most famous green tea growing areas of Japan, Shizuoka. A rural area, home to Mount Fuji and only an hour or two from Tokyo, the region is proud of its traditional tea heritage and I came to appreciate the mellow lift and health benefits of a good cup of Japanese green tea.
So, unsurprisingly one of my favourite treats is the classic green tea ice cream. This smoothie re-creates that yummy, creamy flavour without the refined sugar or dairy. Add more agave if you have a sweet tooth, or perhaps omit it altogether if you’re having this as a breakfast smoothie.
xx Gráinne – www.karrathayoga.com
Matcha Green Tea Smoothie
1 FROZEN BANANA (nice and sweet and ripe before peeling, cutting in half and popping in the freezer) 1 HUGE HANDFUL OF BABY SPINACH 1 CUP SOY MILK 1/2 CUP WATER 2 TEASPOONS GREEN TEA POWDER (make sure it is powdered “matcha” style green tea – not fine tea leaves)
1 TABLESPOON AGAVE SYRUP
Blitz and enjoy!
Gráinne recommends this brand of matcha (pronounced ma-cha): Absolute Green Organic Tea Powder
I accidentally drank most of this smoothie before I photographed it, (and let’s not mention the dusty when illuminated table – texture, if you please). I’ll put that down as testament to its deliciousness rather than my carelessness. I went through a phase of having one of these every morning for breakfast instead of coffee, and I’d like to get back into that phase again soon. It’s such an easy way to get lots of greens into your diet and make your body more alkaline. Victoria Boutenko’s Green For Life book has lots of info on green smoothies and is an interesting read.
There’s a gazillion recipes online for green smoothies with coconut oil, blue-green algae powder, spiralina and the like, but I prefer to make mine very simply. Here are two, super simple green smoothie recipes I have on repeat:
#1 SPINACH BANANA GREEN SMOOTHIE
1 FROZEN BANANA, CHOPPED 1 CUP BABY SPINACH
1.5 CUPS WATER (OR COCONUT WATER, IF YOU CAN BE BOTHERED. I USUALLY CAN’T).
Put the chopped banana in a blender first, then the spinach and the water and blend on high until smooth.
#2 KIWI MINT GREEN SMOOTHIE
1 FROZEN BANANA, CHOPPED 1 CUP BABY SPINACH 1 KIWI FRUIT, PEELED AND CHOPPED 2 SPRIGS OF FRESH MINT LEAVES
1 CUP WATER (OR COCONUT WATER, AGAIN IF YOU CAN BE BOTHERED).
Put the chopped banana and kiwi fruit in a blender first, then the spinach and mint and finally the water and blend on high until smooth.