Green smoothies are not enjoyed by everyone, and the number falls even further when no sugar is included. However, if you employ the proper elements, it might persuade you otherwise. They shouldn’t be disregarded as a component of a healthy lifestyle due to all the great impacts they could have on your health.
In order to keep a healthy diet when cooped up indoors, a green smoothie is a great addition to your daily routine. This chlorophyll-rich beverage can be used as a light meal, a midday snack, or a post-workout recovery drink. It is produced with a variety of healthful ingredients. Hemali Gala, the head chef of the wholesome food establishment Vegan Bites, spoke with Vogue about his favourite green smoothie recipes for newbies.
Some Healthy Green Smoothie Tips
If you haven’t already, read my post on how to make the healthiest green smoothie. But I do have some advice for you:
Use greens from the grocery or farmer’s market to get an extra boost of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. Since they won’t be as nutritious as clean or wilted greens, you shouldn’t eat them. Leafy greens like kale, spinach and chard pair well with one another. If you like, you may swap in different greens like romaine, celery, or mustard greens.
Since you’ll be adding fruit to your smoothie anyhow, use fruit juice as the base liquid to avoid adding unnecessary sugar. Instead, think about substituting water, coconut milk, or nut milks like almond or cashew.
While it’s important to consume a variety of fruits, keep in mind that a 2:1 ratio of fruits to vegetables is typically advised. Among my favourites fruits to slice and freeze are apples, bananas, strawberries, mangos, and pineapple.
For those of you who were unaware, healthy fats are necessary for the absorption of the nutrients found in fruits and vegetables. Simple ways to accomplish this include using coconut oil, almonds, seeds, or a quarter of an avocado.
While the aforementioned four steps will result in a green smoothie that is completely serviceable, I think that using additional superfoods or mix-ins, as I do in my post-workout green smoothie recipe, simply enhances the concoction.
Superfoods like maca powder and bee pollen, as well as spices like ginger or cinnamon, may be used.
The Best Green Smoothie Recipe: How to Prepare It
Before we share our most well-liked green smoothie recipe with you, we’d like to officially welcome you to the world of green smoothies by providing you with a few recommendations.
Use the 60/40 rule first.
For your first few tries at making green smoothies, don’t just throw everything in the blender. The outcomes will probably be nasty if you attempt to wing it right away. To prevent a few smoothie mishaps, pull out those gorgeous mini-cups and adhere to the recipe: 60% fruit and 40% vegetables.
By integrating gradually, you can prevent leaf clumps.
Chewing a green smoothie is the sole drawback to drinking one.
The outcome of combining the liquid base and the leafy greens is a smooth green smoothie. Add the remaining fruit after that, then pulse once more.
Third, freeze some fruit rather than using ice.
Do you enjoy drinking ice-cold green smoothies? While ripe bananas should be consumed fresh, other fruits, such as grapes, pineapple, and berries, freeze nicely after being peeled ahead. This is a great way to deal with overripe fruit, like those brown bananas on your counter, without wasting any of it. For later use, greens can be preserved in a freezer bag. Be cautious when putting frozen greens into the blender unprocessed (no need to thaw these delicate little fellas).
Utilise natural sugars that haven’t been processed.
Try adding some naturally sweet fruits to your smoothie if it has a bitter or “green” flavour. We tend to stick to naturally sweet fruits like bananas, mango, apples, pears, or pitted dates rather than utilising processed sugars or artificial sweeteners.
Smoothies are the perfect fast food, so make them ahead of time.
The morning rush hour may be a particularly stressful time, there is no disputing it. Given this, we think that the greatest option for quick, wholesome meals for people who are constantly on the go is a green smoothie.
The ingredients for your green smoothie may be blended the night before, and you can keep it in the fridge until the next morning (up to 2 days). Keep it as fresh as possible by preventing oxidation with an airtight cover. Before opening, give it a vigorous shake to mix the contents.
If you follow these five guidelines, we guarantee you’ll fall in love at first drink with your green smoothies. This is the green smoothie recipe we always recommend to our friends and family who have never had one before.
Green smoothie recipes can use fruits.
The list of fruit alternatives for this green smoothie recipe is below. Mango and pineapple are two fruits that work well together, so I used both in this piece. The colour of your smoothie will change from brilliant green to a more subdued shade of brown if you add darker fruits like blackberries, blueberries, cherries, etc.
strawberries
cherries
grapefruit
mango
pineapple
raspberries
blueberries
peaches
oranges
Green Smoothie Recipe Using Vegetables
It’s better to stick with spinach when first experimenting with green smoothie ideas. I stock up on spinach and other greens when we return from the grocery store and store them in the freezer. In this manner, I can be sure that the spinach I have will remain fresh for the upcoming months. Here are some additional concepts:
- swiss chard
- beet greens
- collard greens
- spinach
- kale
- romain lettuce
- carrot tops
- celery
Conclusion
Although vegetables are good for you, there are times when you just don’t feel like eating them. If you’re sick of the same old salads, let us introduce you to some of our favourite green smoothie ideas. Thanks to their protein powder, greens, and fruit, smoothies are an ideal and delightful way to achieve your recommended daily intake of fibre, potassium, and iron. Reduce your hunger, consume plenty of nutrient-rich foods that combat inflammation, and feel wonderful all at once.
Go blend and cheers to your health! A blender is optional but strongly encouraged.
