Green Smoothies 101, part 1

Here's part 1 in a series of posts I'm calling "Green Smoothies 101".

As I said a few days ago, I've gotten a lot of inquiries lately about how to get started making green smoothies. So here's the basic starting point.

Ingredients
1 banana or less
Other fruit you enjoy (1-2 cups chopped) - I suggest various berries, apple, orange, mango, peach, nectarines, etc.
2 cups of spinach
8 ounces of water
2-4 ice cubes (optional)
Sweetener to taste (optional)

If you have a low-end blender (as I do), this is definitely not the type of smoothie where you can put everything in the blender at once & hit "Liquefy". You have to put the ingredients in slowly & add more water as needed.

Start by putting about a quarter cup of water (2 ounces) in the blender. Then add some high-liquid fruit (I use half an apple, seeds removed, and half an orange, peeled). I add Stevia at this point, but you could use honey, maple syrup, or skip the sweetener altogether, especially if you use a lot of fruit.

Then add about half of the spinach. You may need to stop the blender a couple of times to stir it in order to get the spinach to blend, or add a little more water. Add the rest of the spinach and repeat.

And then add whatever fruit you want to. Make sure to include a banana, as that makes it creamier. I use frozen fruit so that it's colder (peaches, nectarines, strawberries or mango), or I add a few ice cubes. For me, it's harder to drink if it's not cold. If you are making smoothies for kids, or the green color bothers you, then use lots of dark fruit: cherries, blackberries, blueberries, etc.

Drink this for a few days to get used to the taste. Honestly, you may not even taste the spinach. Then I'll add some variations in my next post.

Any Questions?