Beginners green smoothie
I love my green smoothies but tend to use much the same recipe over and over just changing the fruit or the leafy greens every so often.
Last weekend I felt a green smoothie craving but didn't have my usual freezer stash of portions pre-blended ready to defrost.
I used what I had to hand in the fridge, and as it happened it turned out to be a pretty tasty mild and creamy green smoothie, one I would suggest would be perfect for beginners. If you are still feeling a bit hesitant simply change the ratios of fruit to greens a little so it is more heavier on the fruit, then over time you can slowly increase the greens.
Green smoothies are fab for packing in the nutrients in a slower releasing form than a fruit only smoothie that is much higher in fast releasing fruit sugars than can often overload the body with fructose. Here, the addition of nut butter (or avocado if you like) further helps sustain you and spread the sugar load and really gives it the smooth creamy quality.
If you're a newbie this could be the perfect blend to try. The blend will last for a day in the fridge so you could drink a glass for breakfast and also as a later snack or simply for breakfast for two days running... or in one big glass!
A few extra tips for 'newbies' trying our your own blend- aim to use yellow to green coloured fruits such as orange, banana, mango, apple, kiwi or pear for the best colour. If you use berries along with greens the end result might taste great but you'll end up with a grey sludgy looking smoothie- not so pleasing in the eyes.
Also it comes to the 'green part'- cucumber, courgette, lettuce, spinach are very mild in taste and are perfect to start with whereas kale, broccoli, rocket etc are stronger tasting or have a coarser texture so may take more blending or be too strong for a beginners palate- just a few thoughts to keep in mind and experiment with!
Also, for those you have already joined my '21 Day Lemon Water Challenge' starting in August 11th this would be a great follow up for breakfast or as a mid afternoon pick me up.
Recipe: Beginner green smoothie
Serves 1-2
Ingredients
1 cup water (or more to reach desired thickness)
1 cup loosely packed spinach
½ cup cucumber
1 large orange- peeled*
1-2 tbs cashew butter (more for thicker creaminess)*
Method
Blend everything together until as smooth as possible. I find it easiest to add half the water first, blend well and then add the remainder and re-blend to get the smoothest consistency.
You could swap some of the water for part ice for immediate chill, This will be thicker so a little extra water may be needed.
Chill to serve. Will store in the fridge in an airtight container for 24 hours.
*You could substitute the cashew butter for some avocado. You could also try other fruits- banana, apple to mango are typically great options. If you use berries be warned that the red and green colour combo will turn into more of a greyish sludge.
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