Green smoothie...I found a recipe I like!

Good day to you all!

I'm a little overexcited as some of you may have seem a few 'oh my gosh' type of announcements over on my Facebook page in recent days....all due to the fact that I have actually finally concocted a Green Smoothie I actually quite enjoyed!

I did this 30 day experiment some time ago and whilst a few flavour combos kinda hit the spot- mainly the mango infused versions, I always felt it was a compromise with the proportion of fruit being too high. I'm not generally a smoothie girl as I prefer to eat my fruits whole in stead of drink them, but I was intrigued by the green smoothie 'revolution' that seemed to have taken the world by storm...I felt like I was missing out big time!

So, a week or so ago I tried a change of tactic. Instead of using fruits to try and 'hide' the greens I thought I would 'celebrate' the greens by addding just a little fruit simply to complement them. You know what...it worked! For me anyway, I totally appreciate that for many people the whole hiding the greens thing does work- my taste buds were simply not fooled, plus it was very easy to end up with a 'grey sludge' when using greens and red berries. Not the prettiest look.

I will warn you now, this smoothie is very refreshing and 'green' tasting, no bananary berryness to try and cover things up. The subtle hints of ginger and lemon work perfectly to give a refreshing tart kick whilst the apple gives a little touch of sweetness and the avocado offers the smooth undertones. You can omit the avocado if you prefer, I've had it like that to, it's just not so smooth. I use frozen pureed apple to thicken and chill the smoothie without the need for ice cubes- speeds things up that little bit more too!

So here is my Super Green Smoothie. The greenest of the green...just check out these ingredients!

It's perfectly timed for St Paddy's Day too. I'll toast with a big glass on Sunday and I hope you do too, whatever your favourite greens combo is.  Let me know your favourite flavours in the comments- you never know there may well be another amazing smoothie combo I just haven't tried yet.

Recipe: 'Super Green' Smoothie

Serves 1

Ingredients

1 cup water (or more to reach desired thickness)

1 cup packed spinach (or other greens)

1/3 cup cucumber

½ cm fresh ginger

2 tsp lime juice (or lemon)

1/3 cup frozen pureed apple or pear

Approx. 1/4 cup sized chunk of avocado

Optional extras:

1/2 tsp greens powder

A couple of fresh mint leaves

A few drops of stevia or sweetener of choice

Chia seeds to garnish

Method

Blend everything together until as smooth as possible. I find it easiest to add half the water first, blend well and then add the remainder and re-blend to get the smoothest consistency.

Note: I partially defrosted the apple/pear puree ‘blocks’ before adding to the processor. Serve immediately.

P.S just a few more green recipes from the archives to continue St. Paddy's Day style.

Mint choc brownie

Pea and bean dip

Peppermint chocolate slice

Pea, courgette and mint soup

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.