Like most people, I know I SHOULD eat my raw leafy greens everyday, but I get tired of salads. Here’s an easy and tasty way to get the important minerals, enzymes, and vitamins that are so abundant in greens. All you need is a blender, some fresh fruit, a bunch of fresh greens. and water or juice. Yeah, it sounds disgusting, but you will be amazed at how delicious it can be.
If you use mild flavored greens like spinach, endive, dark green lettuce, bok choy, or parsley, you will find that you can barely taste them when blended with fruits. I like to blend a banana and citrus or berries with my greens to give my drink a sweet and tart flavor. Mixing fruits with vegetables at the same meal is generally not recommended, but leafy greens are the exception to that rule. They go with anything.
It is very important to rotate your greens, though. Eating the same leafy greens day after day can cause a build up of the protective chemicals that plants use to defend themselves. So try something new every day or two.
I usually buy two bunches of greens and use half of each in a green smoothie, along with a tablespoon or so of flax oil and a tablespoon of spirulina powder. The next two days I will choose two different greens. Some taste better than others with different fruits, so you will have to experiment to find your favorite combinations.
Good fruits for mixing with strong-flavored greens are pineapple, oranges, lemons, cranberries, and strawberries. Be sure to buy organic produce, because you don’t want to undo all the good you are doing by dosing yourself with a bunch of pesticides!
If you like a sweeter drink, try adding dates, bananas, raisins, prunes, or mango to your mix. For more information and recipes, read Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko
If you have a great green drink recipe to share, post it here.
Any questions or comments are welcome!
