Morning Green Smoothie

This morning green smoothie has been my daily ritual for the past year because it’s so refreshing and nourishing. It’s got a perfect balance of nutrients and hydration with just enough sweetness to balance the bitterness of the greens. The parsley and ginger add a complexity that I never get tired of.

A different kind of smoothie

When I was growing up, a smoothie was a drink made from yogurt, fruit, and supplements. One might contain yogurt, blueberries, bananas, peanut butter, and some protein or “immune booster” powder. They were always sweet and may have had added sweeteners. They were advertised as healthy, but looking back, they seem more like well-marketed desserts.

Since then, perceptions have changed enough so that the word “smoothie” doesn’t need to contain dairy and doesn’t need to be sweet. As enough people are able to appreciate and prioritize true nutrients, it’s no longer unprofitable to sell drinks that combine grassy and bitter flavors. In certain places, anyway. The perception shift still has a ways to go, and many smoothies still follow the old commercial formula.

The turning point for me was a visit to Juiceland in Austin, TX. Their smoothies and juices are loaded with stuff like parsley, ginger, cayenne, wheatgrass, and celery. Most are not especially sweet. After trying just one green smoothie there, my mind was changed.

How the morning green smoothie became our staple

My wife had been reading the book “The Beauty Detox Solution” by Kimberly Snyder. It contains some useful information on using raw plant-based foods to detox and look and feel better (if the name didn’t tell you that!). It focuses considerably on probiotics and enzymes, and while it isn’t fully plant-based in its approach, gave us the foundation for this smoothie.

This smoothie is based on the Glowing Green Smoothie from that book. The original recipe combines lettuce, celery, spinach, banana, apple, pear, lemon, and parsley. We added kale and cucumber for some extra nutrients. And ginger both for its flavor and medicinal effects.

The recipe basically boils down to six components:

• A vegetable that’s watery and refreshing (lettuce and/or cucumber)
• A leafy green vegetable that is rich in nutrients (spinach and/or kale)
• Celery
• A fruit that is both tart and sweet (green apple and/or pear)
• A banana
• Lemon juice

On some occasions, we have added ingredients such as jalapeno, mint, and fresh turmeric root. These all add some bright flavor to the smoothie. But be careful when using jalapeno because it can easily overwhelm the drink.

What is the preparation like?

There is some work involved, but the good news is that this recipe makes enough for two people to drink two servings (or one person to drink four servings). You will need a knife and a blender.

You’ll need to rinse and chop the lettuce, celery, and kale. Peel the cucumber. Chop the apple and pear. Juice the lemon. Add everything into the blender with some water. Blend. Drink

Cooking notes for the Morning Green Smoothie

If you’re short on time or ingredients you can make the following simplifications:

• Use either lettuce OR cucumber. Just double the quantity listed in the recipe.
• Use either spinach OR kale. Again, double the amount if substituting.
• Use either apple OR pear. Same thing – double it.
• Skip the parsley and ginger.

Your blender bowl can get pretty close to full with these ingredients. If the ingredients get stuck above the blender blades, it can be a minor annoyance to have to unload and reload the bowl. So it’s important to pack the bowl correctly. I pack it in the following order:

• Chop the hardest ingredients (apple, pear, celery, cucumber, ginger) into bite-size pieces and put them on the bottom. Don’t press them down. You want them to be loose so they blend and allow the pieces above to fall down.
• Break the banana into 3-4 pieces and put it on top of the other ingredients in the bowl.
• Chop the leaves as needed and roll them into tight bundles before putting them in the bowl. You want these bundles to fall down toward the blade eventually. Don’t put too much pressure when placing the bundles in the bowl.
• Add lemon juice. If you need, you can squeeze it into a bowl first so you can easily remove the seeds.
• Add water.

We use romaine lettuce but other types work as well.

We use dinosaur (lacinato) kale because it is the easiest to work with since the leaves are flat. But curly kale is fine, too.

The smoothie may separate into fiber and juice if left to sit for a while. You can either shake it or stir it to recombine the parts.

Wanna simplify things? Make one of these simple smoothies

• Lettuce Smoothie (3 ingredients) – super refreshing, highlights the nuttiness of romaine lettuce
• Jackfruit Smoothie (3 ingredients) – sweet, tangy, and creamy, like pineapple but not acidic
• Celery Smoothie (3 ingredients) – helps the grassy vegetal aroma of the celery shine
• Beet-Grapefruit Smoothie (4 ingredients) – great for the heart, plus beet and grapefruit are gold together
• Avocado-Coconut Smoothie (3 ingredients) – soothing and cooling, can be made as a chilled soup or a smoothie

If you try this recipe out, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @gastroplant on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.