Green Smoothie Recipe

I love smoothies during the summer, but lately I’ve been trying to incorporate even more vegetables into our diet. I have been reading a lot about the benefits of green smoothies, so I decided to give it a shot.

While I’ve read that you need a really good blender – like a Vitamix – to make green smoothies super smooth, I figured our Ninja blender could do a good enough job. It blended everything up really well, but I couldn’t get it quite as smooth as I’d like. Maybe we’ll consider getting a Vitamix blender somewhere down the road.

Here’s a basic green smoothie recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of filtered water (the colder the better)
• 10-12 cups of chopped organic leafy greens (spinach, kale, romaine lettuce, chard, arugula, etc.)
• 2 stalks of organic celery, sliced
• Up to 1 cup of fresh green organic herbs such as parsley or cilantro (optional)
• 2 organic apples or pears (peeled, cored and chopped)
• 1 organic banana
• 2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed organic lemon juice

Instructions:

1. Put water and leafy greens in your blender
2. Blend, starting on low speed and increasing speed, until the mix is smooth
3. Add your celery, herbs and apples/pears, and continue blending
4. Finally, add the banana and lemon juice and blend until smooth

This green smoothie recipes makes about 4 servings. I like to pour it into pint-sized mason jars and store in the refrigerator so it’s easy just to grab a jar in the morning. They should last for about 2-3 days refrigerated.

It takes a lot of people a while to get used to the taste. You can add some ice to your blender as well; the extra chill may help you adjust to the taste.