Green Smoothies

I really like raw vegetable juicing as a way of getting much needed nutrition and nourishment into the body as quickly as possible, and with as little digestive effort required as possible. However, it’s hard to get much in the way of healthy fats and proteins from raw vegetable juice, and that’s where green smoothies come in.

Here is the basic recipe for my green smoothie, which I usually take as a replacement for breakfast:
  • Mixed seeds (see options below)
  • Half ripe avocado (stoned and skinned)
  • 1 heaped tablespoon of coconut oil (available from health food shop – I use Optima brand, available from your local health food shop or Holland & Barret – for details go to http://www.nourish.ie/and search for “Optima Coconut oil”)
  • Large handful of baby spinach leaves
  • 3 inches of organic cucumber sliced
  • 1 large tomato
  • 6 cherry tomatoes
  • Half a pink lady apple
  • 6 strawberries
  • 30-50g of blueberries
  • 500=700 ml of filtered water depending on how thick you want it
Mixed Seeds
You have 2 choices here – either freshly ground, or whole soaked overnight – I prefer the whole soaked overnight because the soaking starts the sprouting process which increases the amount of vitamins and minerals available from the seeds.
Soaked
The mix I use is as follows:
  • 2 tbs organic golden flax seeds
  • 1 tbs organic sesame seeds
  • 1 tbs organic sunflower seeds
  • 1 tbs organic pumpkin seeds
  • 1 tbs organic hemp seeds
  • 1 tbs psyllium husks
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon (you can leave the cinnamon until the morning if you wish)

Put all the seeds in the bottom of the empty blender jug, and cover them with water (50 to 100 ml should be enough) the night before. In the morning, just add all your selected produce to the blender, add more water and whizz.

Ground
  • The mix I use is as follows:
  • 3 tbs organic golden flax seeds
  • 1 tbs organic sesame seeds
  • 1 tbs organic sunflower seeds
  • 1 tbs organic pumpkin seeds
  • 1 tbs organic hemp seeds
  • 1 tbs psyllium husks
  • 3 tsp ground cinnamon (you can leave the cinnamon until the morning if you wish)

Put all the seeds in a coffee grinder and grind for about 30 seconds or so (a bit more if you want the mix to be and more powdery and finer – a bit less if you like it more crunchy and coarse). Put the mix into the blender jug first, then add all your selected produce, then whizz.

Whizz for about a minute and enjoy! Note I use a jumbo straw rather than drinking by the neck. If you only have ordinary straws and the mix is quite thick, you may have to add some water or try using 2 straws.
In the case of all the ingredients, use organic wherever possible.
Smoothies

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