Trade in your green beer for a green smoothie this St. Patrick’s Day!

I was a skeptic of drinking my greens until recently, and now I’m hooked. For the fellow skeptics, start with just a few greens and then slowly add more each time. We’ve been aiming for a ratio of half vegetables and half fruits, with most of the vegetables being leafy greens. Many people ask, “Why smoothies instead of juice?” I have two main related reasons: less waste and easier clean-up. I like knowing that I’m getting all the nutritional benefits of the whole fruit and vegetable. Also, I hate cleaning up. The vitamix blender I use has a clean setting, so all I have to do is rinse out the soap at the end. Any variation of this smoothie makes for a very filling breakfast or snack. 

Today’s smoothie included the following ingredients, many of which were available at this morning’s farmer’s market. It’s fun and healthy to vary the ingredients daily, and pretty much any combination is good. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup kale (assorted)
• 1/4 cup vitamin greens
• 1 carrot
• 1 green apple, peeled and cut into quarters
• 1/2 cup frozen peaches
• 1 banana, chopped

Directions:

1. Blend 2 cups of water with the kale and vitamin greens until you have a gorgeous green water. 
2. Put the rest of the ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.
3. Drink right away, or put some in the fridge for later or the next day.

Posted by freshfrombrooklyn in beverages, local, projects, recipe, seasonal Tags: apple, carrot, green smoothie, kale, peach, recipe, vitamin greens, Vitamix