Recipe:Smoothies

Hello,

Here are the recipes for the smoothies that we made at the Smoothie Class the other day by my friend Kali. She did such a great job and I have been truly inspired and have made a smoothie every day since then and really feel great! Enjoy! And share your fav smoothie recipe if you have one!

The handout from Kali:

Mix and Match- once you get used to adding vegetables in your smoothies you really can’t go wrong, you just more fruit or sweetener if it’s not coming together.

Add in the following order:
(Contrary to the infomercials out there, you do not need a fancy blender or juicer to make these smoothies, but I have found that putting things in a certain order can help if you have a standard low-end blender like mine (Oster). I have no experience using hand held blenders, let me know if you try it.)

#1.Banana (fresh or frozen)-Essential for getting everything else down! Provides your sweetness and creaminess. Use fresh for normal consistency or frozen to make your smoothie very thick (almost like a sorbet)

#2.Vegetable (fresh and RAW): pick one--

-Baby Spinach: A great place to start. Baby spinach adds very little taste but lots of nutrition. Regular fresh spinach is fine but can add a little more bitter taste especially if its getting old. I haven’t personally used frozen chopped spinach, although some people have made it work (use a lot less since its much more condensed)

-Kale: A real superfood – like Spinach on steroids. The fact that this can even be consumed in its raw, most nutritious state is miraculous – and delicious!

-Carrots: Carrot juice is always sweet and delicious – making it into a smoothie just gives you more fiber and nutrients. You may want to blend it a little longer for texture reasons (otherwise it is like drinking applesauce).

-Beets: Another super super food. No need to cook or peel, just scrub and chunk. I find 1/3 beet adds a good amount of color/nutrition without totally overpowering the fruit. Beautiful red/pink color for your little girls.

#3.Fruit (usually frozen): pick a few

Berries: Any kind and combination. Darker (blueberries, blackberries) are more healthy and hide the green colors. Strawberries and Raspberries are standard, people (kid) pleasing. I most often use the bags of frozen berry blends.

Mango: A very nice addition to any smoothie – right up there with Bananas. Very nice fresh, but frozen is very convenient.

Peaches: Nice undertone, but “peachy” taste is very hard to pull out unless you really pump it up with white grape/peach juice and peach yogurt

Pineapple: Common green smoothie sweetener

Mixes/Melons: I know these can be great, I’m not a huge melon fan so I haven’t played around as much with these.

Crisper drawer produce. Apples – I’ve seen green apples used a lot for fresh/tart additions as well as the juice of limes. I assume you can’t go wrong throwing in grapes or pears although I haven’t tried them.

#4. Liquid

-Orange Juice
-100% Clear Fruit (Apple, White Grape, Peach, etc)
-Water
-Others – I have no experience with grape juice, V8, lemonade, other things you could try.. let me know if you try something else and like it

If things don’t taste right or you want to add additional things consider the following:

-Ice--The more intense the vegetable is (read: Kale and Beets) the more important it is that the smoothie is cold and thinned (not so fibrous) – start with 1-2 ice cubes
-Mix-ins – obviously there are dozens of things you can mix in for added health benefits, these are some I’ve experimented with.
-Parsley – a little sprig can add more fresh green taste.
-Cilantro – some studies suggest it’s a mood elevator (anxiolytic), it has a unique taste which some people love and others despise.
-Flaxseed – Contains high amounts of lignans, Omega 3 fatty acids, fiber to benefit heart, diabetes and anti-cancer (make sure you grind it up or it doesn't do any good!)
-Coconut Oil – A “good cholesterol” fat used as an energy boost in energy bars, Asian cooking
-Yogurt- adds creaminess, and plain adds tartness

Sweeteners
-Honey – 1 tsp goes a long way
-Agave Nectar – low glycemic index (although high in fructose) an alternative to honey – a little sweeter and dissolves quickly in liquids
-Sweetened yogurts

Tried and True combinations

Kali’s all-time favorite:
Flaxseed, 1 Banana, 1 handful of baby spinach, 1 handful of frozen berry blend, 2-3 peaches, 2-3 mango pieces, Orange Juice.

Traditional Green Smoothie:
2 Bananas, ice, Kale, 2-3 pieces pineapple or mango, water

Carrot Juice:
Banana (optional), Handful of baby Carrots, Frozen Strawberries, Apple or white grape juice

Beautiful Beet:
Banana, ice, 1/3 raw beet, 1 handful frozen berry blend, apple or white grape juice

Refreshing Cilantro:
Banana, Pink Grapefruit, Spinach, Cucumber, Lime, Cinnamon, Agave