Have you been thinking about adding more vegetables to your diet and even considered trying vegetable green smoothie recipes but weren't sure if you would like them?
I have been whipping up healthy vegetable green smoothie recipes every day for well over two years in my blender and I haven't grown tired of drinking them yet!
Once you get in a routine with making your veggie smoothies, I think you will find it very easy to blend a pitcher of smoothies for work or home. What's more, you will probably be surprised at how yummy they taste! I've shared my vegetable smoothies with others and they were amazed at how great green vegetables can taste as a smoothie.
If you need to lose some pounds and inches as well as incorporate more vegetables in your diet, read on to find a few recipes that you can start with today!
Drink Your Veggies!
Image above courtesy of Suat EmanIs it possible to eat too many vegetables every day? Probably not. It's hard to imagine someone like your doctor telling you that you are eating WAY TOO MANY Vegetables and to cut that out!
The food pyramid suggests having at least 3 to 5 servings of vegetables every day. An example of that would be one cup of leafy greens, 1/2 cup of cooked vegetables, and 3/4 cup of vegetable juice. When you add several vegetables to a delicious smoothie or two, you are probably going to get your vegetable requirements each day without any problem!
After many years of digestive and colon issues and doing countless hours of research, I feel that Raw Vegetables are more nutritionally sound than cooked vegetables. Not everyone may agree with my findings and that is ok. I do encourage you to at least add more and more raw vegetables to your daily diet and see how much better you feel over all.
In order to honor my digestive issues, I turned to my trusty blender to break down the dense fiber of the vegetables that I've come to love so much. By breaking them down to smoothie consistency, it is much easier for my body to further breakdown and digest the remains.
When you consume your vegetables in a
Vegetable Smoothie versus juicing, you are keeping the all important fiber that we need to keep our colons healthy.
I've juiced vegetables many times and will probably still do so again from time to time. Juicing can be very beneficial when doing a juice fast for example. Smoothies however, seem to be what my body enjoys the most on a daily basis!
- Serves: 2
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 - 20 minutes
If one of your goals for the New Year was to lose some weight, and you have been thinking about weight loss smoothie recipes, try this one! This healthy recipe can be quickly whipped up in your powerful blender in virtually no time and have you out the door in the morning full of energy.
If you have too little time in the morning to make this recipe before leaving, make it up the night before and then it will be all ready to go.
Remember to use organic and fresh ingredients to give you the healthiest nutrition possible.
The amount of liquid added will depend on your powerful blender brand. Some only need a small amount of liquid while others may require a bit more for your vegetable smoothie recipes. If you prefer your smoothie a bit thicker, start with less than the suggested amount and add more if needed.
Feel free to experiment and make this recipe exactly as you like it!
Image courtesy of Michal Marcol
Ingredients
- Liquid - Start with 1 cup of liquid - Can be filtered water/kombucha/kefir water/raw apple juice or your liquid of choice. Add more liquid if needed to make your vegetable smoothie recipe just the right consistency for you.
- Beet - 1/2 inch slice or to taste
- Carrot - 1 medium size
- Cucumber - 1 medium size
- Spinach leaves - 1 handful
- Tomato - 1 small to medium size
- Lemon - Juice from fresh squeezed large size
- *Optional - Sweetener - A few drops of liquid Stevia Extract to taste (be careful as it is VERY concentrated! See link below.)
Instructions
Place liquid along with washed and prepared ingredients into your high power blender. Process all ingredients until smooth.
Drink and enjoy!
**Disclaimer - the above recipe and recommendations are simply that - recommendations! Use good judgement and do your research before trying ingredients you are unfamiliar with.**
- Serves: 3-5
- Prep Time: 5-10 minutes
- Total Time: 15-20 minutes
This vegetable green smoothie recipe is one I love to experiment with.
It is hard to mess this healthy smoothie recipe up and it will come out nice and smooth especially if you are using a powerful blender!
The ingredients are simple and mostly green. I suggest reading through the recipe and then read the variations of this recipe below.
**Remember to always use ingredients that are as fresh and organic as possible!**
Image courtesy of Suat Eman
Ingredients
- 3 large leaves of Green or Purple Kale (stripped from stem)
- 3 Stalks of Celery
- 1 Medium size Zucchini Squash
- 1 Cup of Broccoli Florets
- 1 Heaping tsp. Organic Coconut Oil
- 2 Small Lemons - remove the peeling and retain the seeds and pith
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups of liquid mixture (see variations)
- 1 Tbs. Kelp Granules or Dulse Flakes
- 1 Medium Carrot
- 1 Small Bunch of Flat Leaf Parsley
- **Optional - 1 to 2 droppers full of Liquid Stevia Extract to taste remembering that it is super concentrated!
Instructions
Wash all vegetables and fruit.
Prepare vegetables for your powerful blender.
Starting with the liquid mixture, place all or part of the ingredients in the blender and blend until the mixture is nice and smooth. If you like to add your ingredients a bit at a time that will work as well. Add more liquid as needed.
I usually get about 5 cups of mixture when I am through. When all done, I divide my drink into 3 tall glasses and refrigerate what I don't drink. It is probably best to make sure you drink each batch within a 24 hour period to get the most out of your vegetable mixture.
Variations
Vegetables - Use 3 to 5 organic and fresh green vegetables such as - zucchini, broccoli, kale, spinach leaves, celery, lettuce, cucumber, mustard greens, turnip greens, cilantro, bean sprouts, carrot top greens, etc.
Oils - I like adding a bit of oil to my green smoothie recipe as it helps to curb the appetite and some oils have certain health benefits. It is not a requirement and is one ingredient you can easily eliminate if you so choose. An alternative to Organic Coconut Oil would be using half of a small ripe Avocado.
Liquids - You can mix your liquids to include some of the following - Unsweetened Kefir water, Unsweetened and Alcohol free Kombucha, Coconut water (natural or fermented is preferred), Raw Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (1 to 2 Tbs. or to taste), Organic Unsweetened Apple Juice, or Filtered Water. I like that the Raw Organic Apple Cider Vinegar helps to balance the overall recipe and lends a slightly 'salty' taste to the mixture.
Sweeteners - Some prefer their green vegetable smoothies to be sweeter than do others. The Now brand Stevia Extract Sweetener (see below) is the only natural sweetener that I know of that actually tastes good while being good for you. Just be sure to start out with a few drops as it is very concentrated.
Alternatives to using Stevia would be using a bit of Fresh Organic Fruit such as an Apple or Fresh Organic Unsweetened Fruit Juice as part of your liquid. I would start with a little and experiment as it might not take as much as you think to sweeten your recipe.
I hope you enjoy every last drop of this very healthy and nutritious green smoothie recipe!
**Disclaimer - the above recipe and recommendations are simply that - recommendations! Use good judgement and do your research before trying ingredients you are unfamiliar with.**
Remember to choose vegetables that are crisp and have deep, rich, and vibrant color to get the most nutrition value. Kale for example has more nutrition than Romaine Lettuce.
