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I have a confession to make. I’m sharing my winter green smoothie recipe with you for utterly selfish reasons.
You see, I’m forgetful.
Every season, as the available fruit changes, I have to adjust my green smoothie making to suit.
And the trouble is, I can’t remember what I did last week, let alone 12 months ago.
So having discovered this amazing delicious, incredibly versatile winter green smoothie recipe, I’m sharing this with you now so I don’t have to try and remember it next year.
I’ve spent the last few months perfecting this magic blend, and discovered that it works amazingly well with every leafy green I’ve thrown at it.
And that’s kind of a first for me.
Previously, I’ve had to remember different recipes for different greens.
You know, pears for roquette, oranges for spinach, paw-paw for chard, etc, and frankly sometimes I can’t be bothered. Or I forget.
And then I make a less-than-wonderful green smoothie.
So when I discovered that this particular formula worked with every green I used – and I’ve tried it with spinach, chard/silverbeet, arugula/roquette, kale, bok choy, chicory, collards and chinese broccoli – I knew I had to find a way to remember it.
Because pears are going out of season now. And although I’m over the moon that mangoes are back in season, so I can make my all time favourite mango and kale green smoothie, I just know I won’t remember this recipe in a few months time.
And I hate reinventing the wheel.
So what’s the magic formula?
Well, before I share that with you, I need to lay out some things out first.
1. I put WAAAY too much into my blender jug
If you’ve read my “green ploppie” notes below, you’ll know that I like to be efficient.
So I jam as much as humanly possible into my blender jug.
I don’t necessarily recommend this, because it means you’re way over the “max fill” line and you’re working your blender quite hard.
So the recipe below is actually half what I’d normally make.
But doing the full version works for me.
And if my blender ever dies because of it, I’ll be sure to let you know.
2. There is no “right” amount of greens
When I first started making green smoothies, I read “Green for Life” by Victoria Boutenko.
And if I’d made my green smoothies the way her recipes are made, even the “beginner” ones, I would have given up on green smoothies for sure.
I just couldn’t tolerate that much leafy greens in my green smoothies. They tasted too “green” and they were downright horrid. Yuck, yuck, yuck.
So I had to let go of the idea that there was a “right” amount of greens to put in, and instead just do what worked for me.
Over the last two years, my body has adjusted so that I can add heaps more greens than I used to, but it’s still nowhere near as much as some recipes suggest.
So please, please, please don’t make the same mistake that I did.
The right amount of greens is as much as you can still enjoy, and not a skerrick more.
Any more is too much. Trust me on this.
Think about it, if you add too much, you won’t enjoy it, or even drink it, and you’re much less likely to make another.
I’ve seen people give up on the idea of green smoothies entirely because their first one tasted awful to them.
Which is better? A little bit of greens or none at all?
So what if you only add one leaf? It’s more than you would have had otherwise.
Start small and work up to more, eventually. Your body will let you know, because your smoothies will start to taste too sweet, and then you can try adding a bit more greens.
And greens are packed with so much nutrition, that I believe they’re a powerful addition to any healthy diet.
So I want everyone to succeed with drinking green smoothies.
OK, got all that? Good.
So here’s my awesomely versatile “use any green” winter green smoothie recipe.
