drink your veggies

Know you should eat more vegetables, but just aren’t for one reason or another? Try starting the day with an easy-to-make smoothie that cleverly masks the essential greens your body needs to ward off illness and burn fat. After a week, you may just never go back to that bagel and cream cheese…

By mixing fruits and vegetables together, the acidity (or bitterness) of the greens is mellowed out, so even kids and finicky spouses will be happy to drink their veggies! The greens also help you start the day energized, and pack so many vitamins and minerals into very few calories while filling you up.

Category 1: greens – bottom 1/3 to 1/2 of the blender

Choose from any of the following, and mix and match as you please: FRESH dandelion greens and kale (which have more calcium than dairy!), spinach, lettuce, celery, watercress, escarole, mustard greens, turnip greens, carrot tops, broccoli, asparagus, cabbage, alfalfa, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, Chinese celery, collard, horseradish, kale, kohlrabi, mustard, radish, rutabaga, turnip, watercress and most other greens. (Be careful when using argula, as it is spicy and and overpower a smoothie.)

Category 2: fruits and sweet veggies – 1/3 of the blender

Choose from any of the following, and mix and match as you please: FRESH OR FROZEN apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, plums, bananas, kiwi, mango, papaya (great for digestion), berries, carrots, cucumber and all other non-citrus fruits.

Category 3: fats and proteins – pick any 1-2 of the following

1/4 avocado (which gives a great texture and mellows out the greens even more), 1/4 c. raw nuts (soaked overnight in water), 1/2 c. nonfat yogurt, 1/4 c. soft tofu, 2 Tbl. flaxseed meal

Category 4: liquid – add one of the following to your preferred texture/consistency

water; almond, soy, hemp or rice milk; 100 % fruit juice

Be creative, and tweak it to your taste buds – if you like more greens, feel free to add them; if your kids are leary, add more berries for color and taste.

And check out these other sites for great smoothie ideas:

Tropical Smoothie with Carrots, Avocado Frappe, Berry Smoothie with Kale and Carrots, Kale Smoothie with Pineapple, Green Tea Smoothie