Basic Green Smoothie
Yesterday when I shared my 2012 foodie goals with you, the one at the top of my list was getting more fresh fruit and leafy greens into my diet. I promised you a killer green smoothie recipe, and here it is! Given my aversion to vegetables, I had been giving the skeptical side-eye to green smoothies for the better part of a year before I finally caved in and tried one. I love smoothies and I love fruit, and (shockingly) I even like spinach (although it has to be raw, like in a salad – I hate it cooked), but I just never thought I would like it. When I took my first sips, there was definite shock and awe – not only did I not gag, but I actually really, really liked it. Such a bright, fresh flavor and if you do happen to be spinach-averse the good news is that you absolutely cannot taste it at all. Seriously! It just tastes like a blend of banana and citrus – I love it!
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Last year my mom and sister each did a pretty intense cleanse and my mom put together a binder of smoothie recipes that were in line with the cleanse guidelines. Not surprisingly, I am not a cleanse girl. Attempting to eliminate anything from my diet pretty much guarantees that I will crave it in 0.2 seconds. I just can’t do it, I love food too much. Instead, I stick to my “everything in moderation” and 80/20 rule of eating healthy 80% of the time so I can indulge and enjoy what I want the other 20% of the time. It pretty much works for me, but I know that I have trouble with fresh fruits and vegetables. I simply don’t eat enough of them. Enter the green smoothie – a great solution to my problem and an easy way to get 2+ servings of fruit and 2 cups of leafy greens into my daily diet without really trying. I mixed and matched some different elements of the smoothie recipes my mom had saved, with this being my favorite combination.
This makes a little over 2 cups of smoothie – you can drink it all at once or separate it into two servings. When I make this I usually like to drink half for breakfast, and then save the second half for an afternoon snack. You can store your portions in airtight containers in the refrigerator. (I actually think the smoothie tastes even better when it’s well-chilled.) When you’re ready to drink, give them a good stir (it will thicken in the fridge) and enjoy!
Do you have any favorite smoothie recipes? Feel free to share them in the comments below, I’m always looking for great new ideas!
Two years ago: Chocolate Babka
Four years ago: Brown Sugar-Pecan Shortbread Cookies
Basic Green Smoothie Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups (500 ml) cold water
- 1 banana, cut into chunks
- 1 orange, peeled and separated into segments
- ½ (0.5) apple, your favorite variety, peeled, cored, and cut into chunks
- ½ (0.5) lemon, peeled and separated into segments
- ½- inch (0.5 inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
- 2 cups (60 g) baby spinach
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a blender and puree until smooth and completely combined.
- Drink all at once, or separate into two servings. The smoothie can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one day. When it comes out of the fridge, it will have thickened, so give it a brisk stir (or use a small whisk) and enjoy!
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Sounds like a super healthy smoothie. Great way to get your fruits and veggies for the day.
This looks so good – I don’t know why but I love any drink that’s green! I’m weird! :)
My boyfriend and I did a cleanse last year and bought a vitamix on a whim within the first three days. It’s one of my favorite kitchen appliances now. My usual morning smoothie consists of almond milk, some pomegranate juice, spinach and mixed berries. I’ve started to add plain greek yogurt for extra nutrition. You can’t even taste the spinach. Wonderful way to get my fruits and veggies which I don’t eat enough of.
I’m going to try to eat a little better myself. Although I must admit that I have been lagging so far. This will be at the top of my list come next week! :)
Green smoothies rock. I have never tried it with a banana though. Happy New Year.
I love green smoothies. Such an easy way to start the day off on a healthy note. My favorite is super simple: 1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 cup greek yogurt, 1/2 cup milk, couple of handfuls of spinach, 1 tablespoon almond butter – blend until smooth. If I’m feeling crazy, I may through in a 1/2 scoop of vanilla protein powder. Now if I could only convince my husband that it doesn’t actually taste like spinach. :)
Just have him close his eyes and take a sip. That’s what I had to do with my BF. He still won’t drink them, but he admitted that they really good. That’s a start :) Good luck.
That looks awesome!
ok ok i’ll try it. :)
I’ve been drinking these for a while and have a couple of tips. I add almond milk instead of water because it’s a simple way to add protein. Also, I love to add frozen green grapes. They don’t dilute the smoothie like ice would but they help give it a nice slushie texture!
And last but not least, I NEVER have time to cut up kale in the morning before work, so I’ve taken to washing/cutting it up when I come home from the grocery and then I put it in a big bag in the freezer. I just grab a couple of handfuls when I’m ready for a smoothie! Happy New Year!
I also freeze my greens. I make a smoothie every day for my toddler son so I cut up greens (and other veggies like cooked sweet potatoes) and stuff into ice cube trays then freeze. It makes a perfect one ounce block that I can just throw into the blender. It works wonderfully.
I was cleaning spinach in the mornings to use, then started washing it when i brought it home. The salad spinner works well to get most of the moisture out but I store it in a container with a clean tea towel to further absorb moisture. It keeps well for the work week. Sometimes when I’m super busy, i buy the prewashed stuff and just give it a quick rinse before using. Def. going to try your frozen green grape idea, sounds refreshing!
Yeah..I am pretty much an everything in moderation girl too. I just can’t give up food!!!! This looks refreshing!
I just posted a green smoothie recipe too! Check it out, I think you’ll like it!
http://tofusurprise.blogspot.com/2011/12/pear-banana-and-kale-smoothie.html
Here’s my go-to green smoothie. 1/2 cup water + 1/2 cup orange juice + 1 banana + approx 3/4 cup frozen fruit (I usually do half mango and half strawberries) + greens to loosely fill to top of blender (usually spinach, kale, or chard, and it is likely about 2 cups). I’ll also sometimes vary the juice to use whatever I have on hand, or add in some ground flax seed, or a small handful of any fresh fruit I want to use up, like berries that are looking suspect. Blend and enjoy!
This sounds perfect. Nice and simple! Excited to try it, but I’ve heard that frozen spinach is just as good (if not better b/c it’s flash frozen). However, I’m really curious if the small amount of water/ice from the frozen spinach would affect the smoothie?
Thanks!
kim
Hi Kim, I would probably avoid the frozen spinach – the texture will be vastly different, and I think the flavor would be a bit different as well.
I am excited to try your recipe, but I have to watch my acid and two citruses is too much. Can I leave out the lemon without much change? Also, how do you feel about adding yogurt?
Hi Barbara, You can leave the lemon out; feel free to add in the other half of the apple or a 1/2 cup of another fresh fruit of your choice. I don’t add yogurt to keep any extra sugars out, but I think you could probably add some – some other readers have included recipes in the comments here and a few do include yogurt.
Sorry to plug, but cascade fresh yogurt is only sweetened with fruit juice, no other added sugars. The sugar/artificial sweetener thing really bothers me about yogurt, so I was thrilled when I found this brand. They have excellent citrus flavors that are very bright.
This looks great, but I just can’t get past the texture in smoothies. Something about them makes me gag, especially if its getting thicker in the fridge! Too bad, I guess I’ll just have to eat my fruits and veggies in salad form.
i make a smoothie almost every weekday morning for breakfast, and i use an immersion blender which is amazing and so easy to clean .
one of my faves is a mango banana smoothie: 1 banana + 1 big handful spinach, 1/2 cup frozen mango + few spoonfuls plain greek yogurt + splash of mango juice (no sugar added).
i like using frozen fruit because it makes the smoothie thick and cold. i also got a re-usable tumbler at target with straws that change colour to take my smoothie on my morning commute!
I have yet to try a green smoothie, but I know I will soon. One of my favorite smoothies consists of frozen bananas, apples, Greek yogurt (any flavor), coconut or almond milk, cocoa powder, and sometimes a spoon of Nutella. It is so delicious!
My new favorite smoothie I have nicknamed the good for you banana split:
32 oz of Chocolate soy milk
2 bananas’s cut into large chunks
1 pkg of frozen sliced strawberries without juice
1 heaping Tablespoon unsweetened almond butter
1 Tablespoon honey
2 scoops of chocolate protein powder
Mix in blender, makes about 4 12oz servings. I store in 12 oz disposal coffee cups in the freeze. You can either take out the night before and store in the fridge or if you forget remove from freeze and microwave for about one minute ten seconds. Perfect on the go breakfast.
Looks great, and by my calculation 252 calories. I wonder if adding a scoop of protein powder would whack out the flavor profile?
I think an unflavored or vanilla protein would blend right in. =) (I don’t apologize for my puns.)
252 per serving or for full smoothie?
My sister is a huge smoothie fan and keeps pestering me to try a healthy one. This is going to be my first go at a green smoothie, thanks for the recipe!
We have friends who swear by green smoothies but we’ve always been afraid to try them. It’s the ‘green’ thing….yours looks delicious and I may give it a whirl (pardon the pun!)
I’ve done the green drinks before but never with a banana, looking forward to trying your version.
Amazingly enough the smoothie looks really good! Smoothies are the big January thing, just read a bunch of recipes in my Health Magazine yesterday. I guess I”ll give them a try. I like the ingredients in your smoothie, nothing weird in it! The only thing about smoothies, is they don’t keep me filled up! But then again, it could be in my head! lol
Brave girl! I find it so hard to drink green smoothies – I think maybe I use too much spinach. I have been craving a smoothie but it’s below freezing in WI…have to wait until the weather warms up!
I could not agree with you more! Green smoothies are incredibly healthful and a delicious way to get in your leafy greens and fruits! I have a recipe that I have been using for a while and it really helps energize me. I vary the type of greens that I use between kale, spinach, collards, beet greens, and swiss chard. They all have different vitamins and minerals, and since you don’t really taste them, I think it is best to vary them. Here is the method I use….
1/4 C. carrot juice
1/2 C. 0% fat french vanilla or plain yogurt
2 big handfuls of leafy greens
1 banana
5-6 ice cubes
1 Tbs. ground flaxseed meal
1 squirt flax oil
1 small handfull of fresh or frozen berries
Blend until mixed in a normal blender and enjoy!
I’ve still not had a green smoothie, but I am kind of morbidly fascinated by them. Thanks for the recipe!
Wow, I hope it tastes good, I am such a picky person,lol. Thanks for sharing it!
Fave smoothie recipe…well, it doesn’t exactly win any health votes but I recently made a white chocolate and cookie butter (Biscoff or TJs) banana smoothie.
And I was just in Aruba for the month of December and blogged about tons of smoothies I made when I was there..mango, pineapple, banana, you name it, I blended it.
Green is good. But cookie butter is better :)
Averie… That should be a motto… Bumper stickers and all :)
Silly question…when you say 2 cups of baby spinach, do you pack it into the measuring cups, or just kind of loosely pile it in?
I can’t wait to make this! I love the Naked brand green smoothie, but I have a feeling that a DIY version is much healthier!
Hi Maggie, Not silly at all! I’m such a kitchen nerd with my scale, I actually use it to measure my spinach too! (85 grams for 2 cups) However, if you are using a measuring cup, then I would definitely pack it in.
I got a juicer a couple of months ago and I’m addicted to kale/pear/apple juice.
Mmmm, that sounds very yummy. Congratulations on crossing something off your list so fast. I’ve never tried a green smoothie because so many people suggest you use a vitamix which is really expensive. Did you use a regular blender for this? I’d really like to try it.
I have this KitchenAid blender, which is what I use to make my smoothies: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CSNVEM/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=broeyebak-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000CSNVEM