Making a smoothie might seem like a very simply task—simply throw everything into your blender jar and then push a button…but before we move on to which smoothie to make for which health benefit, let’s talk about a few basic “rules” that will help make your green smoothies taste even better.
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The Greens
First remove any thick stems from your leafy greens, especially if you’re using kale, because the stems don’t blend very well. !
Pack as many greens as possible into a 1C measuring cup.
Then blend your leafy greens along with your liquid-base before adding your fruit. Then add your fruit and blend again. This will make your smoothie more…well, smooth.
As far as the liquids, start with 1/2C liquid and add more gradually until you get the consistency that’s right for you.
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Fruit
Wash all fresh produce and cut into pieces that your common sense says will fit into your blender and be easier to blend….pretty straightforward, right?!
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Blending
Like I said earlier, start blending with just your leafy greens and liquid base…then add your fruit….not only will this make your green smothie smoother, but this will also create more room for all the other stuff.
Blend for about 30 seconds at a time, taking time to pause every so often and push the ingredients down a few times.
Blend it for longer than you might think you need to make sure that is gets nice and smooth. This can take as long as three minutes, depending on the strength of your blender.
Once you’ve blended it to the tesxture you’re looking for, taste the smoothie so that you can adjust the seasoning and flavoring as needed.
Don’t be surprised if your green drink turns out any other color than gree. This will happen because of the fruit that you’ve added.
- Not sweet enough?…add a bit more fruit or a splash of sweetener
- Not thin enough?…add more liquid
- Not thick enough?…add more frozen fruit or greens.
- Then blend again.
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Make Ahead
You can make green smoothies ahead of time…especially if you’re so not a morning person like me.
To store in fridge…Premade smoothies will stay good in the fridge for a couple of days.
To store in freezer…you can also storeyour freezer…to do this, layer all your ingredients in a jar.
t’s impottant that you layer your ingredients in the right order—loose, hard items like nuts and seeds…and then frozen fruit…and then as many greens as will fit.
When you’re ready to drink your green smoothie, add as water to the jar as the jar will hold. This will make the smoothie easier to transfer to the blender and blend.. After you finish blending, pour the smoothie back into the jar to drink it…(one less dish to have to wash…yeah)
