Green Smoothies

Do not let the color turn you off from trying a green smoothie.  This time of year it reminds me of the holiday season with rooms and halls decorated from floor to ceiling in green.  A green smoothie is holiday cheer in a cup!  Some may not want a smoothie because of the chill in the air; but a smoothie is perfect at this time when the fresh fruit and vegetables are few.  You can get easily 3-5 servings of your fruit and vegetable in one smoothie.  Below I would consider a beginner green smoothie because of all the fruit; as you become accustom to the taste remove a piece of fruit and add more greens. 

Apples, Pears, Banana, Kale, Yum

Recipe

1 Pear cored, chunked

1 Apple cored, chunked

1 Banana pealed, halfed

1 cup Cranberry juice

4 cups Kale

1/2 Lemon juiced

1 Tablespoon ground Flax seed (Optional)

Cut fruit and place in blender with cranberry juice.  Blend until smooth, may need to add more liquid and mix ingredients in blender.

Add lemon and handfuls of kale at a time; blend until smooth, repeat until use all the kale.  If the smoothie is to thick add more liquid, but better to start with less than more.  This made approx. 24 oz of smoothie, a good amount to start.  I usually drink 1/2 in the morning with a hard boiled egg (for protein) and rest as a snack. 

Note: The lemon juice is to help preserve the smoothie, if drinking right away you can omit the lemon juice. I used this combination because we got kale & pears from the CSA.  You could use berries, cherries, spinach, chard, hemp seeds... you begin to see the combinations are endless.  

Green Smoothie