Showing posts with label green drink. Show all posts
Showing posts with label green drink. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Green Drink!

Green Drink by sherimiya ♥
Green Drink, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.
I've been asked about my green drinks a few times, so I decided to write a bit about them. I just started making and drinking them for about 2 weeks, as one of my new year's challenges. So far, I LOVE them.
Seriously.
If you're not familiar with green drinks, do a google search. You'll find tons of recipes, articles and news tidbits, with lots of celebrity chefs and TV personalities touting them. I'll admit that I first heard of them from my mom, who started drinking them because she saw it on Dr. Oz. Once it registered, I found that many of my own friends are drinking these things too. The nice thing is that you don't need a special juicer or high-powered blender to make them. I only use an ordinary old blender with 2 speeds, and it works fine on the foods I've used so far. Also, you don't have to feel limited to an actual recipe -- use whatever you like! And experiment with flavor combinations. It's a lot of fun! I have a standard true-green drink that I like to make. I happen to like the pure green color, which is why I don't add other colors to this one. I also have a favorite red drink too (I will share this one later). If you mix all kinds of fruit and vegetables, you may end up with a brown drink -- which isn't bad, but it won't have the beautiful vibrant color that you see here. This is my recipe:

Sheri's Green Drink

1C almond milk
handful of spinach (maybe 1/2C packed)
handful of dandelion greens (or any other greens that you prefer, like chard, kale, lettuce, choy)

[blend these ingredients first, to get better liquification]

1 celery stalk
1/2 cucumber, peeled
1 apple, peeled
1 small orange, peeled
1/2 lime, peeled
1/2 avocado
1 inch ginger, grated
1T wheat germ (or flaxmeal)

Blend the remaining ingredients, in batches, so your blender won't blow its motor. If you have a high-powered blender, then just throw everything in at once.
This recipe makes about 4 cups. I drink about 2 and a half cups at midday, and save the rest in the fridge to share with my kids later. It tastes.. well, green, but with a sharp, tangy, fresh bite. If you prefer it sweeter, you can add fruit. Even a couple of strawberries will sweeten it up quite a bit, but then the color will change. I really like it to stay greeeeeen. And it might be too soon to tell, but my usual winter allergies seem to be less pronounced. This drink will give you energy, fortify you for the day ahead, fill you up, and make you invincible! Okay, I made up that last part. Maybe.