My Favorite Green Smoothie

Somehow I blinked and missed May. Time does fly, and I love snuggling
this guy, but it’s been a challenge to balance being present and actually getting anything done ever. Whew.

We spent the first week of June back in Minnesota for a friend’s wedding and a visit. Both my mom and my in-laws live there, and between home cooking and visiting some of our favorite restaurants, I definitely over-indulged a bit.

Brownies for breakfast? I’m talking to you.

Now that we’re home my body is happy to be back on the green smoothie wagon. It took me a while to get behind the idea at first, but I’m a convert. While I still love me some green juice, a smoothie is faster.

My husband works evenings, so making breakfast is easier than dinner for me since he can hold the baby. Getting my greens in early makes it easier when all I manage for lunch is trail mix some days.

The ingredients vary based on what’s in season or on sale, but I return to this combination time and time again. As a Vata type I like sour citrus flavors and a creamy, rich texture for my smoothies. Many smoothies use inexpensive bananas for this, which is a great idea, except I don’t like them. I use avocado instead.

Spinach or chard (remove the stems) work great in green smoothies because their leaves are tender, but I love the grassy flavor of kale, too. I often mix them together. The recipe lists 1 medium orange, but I used 2 satsumas in the photo. It’s a smoothie, not a souffle. Get creative!

What changes would you make? Use a banana? Add cinnamon? Something else?

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My Favorite Green Smoothie

by Stacy Spensley June-14-2013

So many substitutions are possible, and measurements are approximate. This is the basic premise for my typical morning smoothie.

I could go on about the nutritional content of the ingredients and how the vitamin C from the citrus makes the non-heme iron more bio-available, but let’s stick with, “This is tasty, you should try it.”

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 3 cups spinach or combination of spinach and kale
• 1 medium apple, cored
• 1 medium lemon, peeled
• 1 medium orange, peeled
• 1/2 cup frozen mango or pieces
• 1/2 avocado
• 3-4 ice cubes
• 1/2 inch peeled fresh ginger (optional)

Instructions

1.) Add ingredients to blender in order listed. 2.) If you have a high-speed blender (Vitamix or Blendtec), whirr away. If you have a basic blender, add almond milk, spinach, and citrus first and blend until combined. Then add frozen fruit, ice, and avocado and blend again until smooth. If the smoothie is too thick, splash in a bit more almond milk or water until its blends well.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 2 mins Total time: 7 mins Yield: about 2 smoothies

Tagged as: breakfast, dairy-free, fruit, gluten, green smoothie, greens, quick, vegan, vegetables