Kale, Celery & Apple Green Smoothie
Makes ~4 8oz servings
Ingredients
5 large organic kale leaves, stems removed, and torn into small pieces
4 stalks organic celery, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup organic red grapes
Juice of one lemon
1/2 cup apple juice
1/2 cup cold water
1 cup ice
Directions
1. Rinse kale, celery and grapes and place in blender with lemon juice, apple juice, water, and ice
2. Blend until liquified and there are no visible pieces of ice
3. Pour into a glass and enjoy!
What are the nutritional benefits of this smoothie? Kale is an excellent source of vitamins A, C and K. It is also a good source of minerals calcium, copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorous. Celery provides vitamin K and folic acid. Grapes are a good source of vitamins C, A and K. Lemon juice and apple juice are packed with vitamin C.
Question:
ReplyDeleteIs there a bigger benefit to making smoothies over making a juice with similar ingredients and adding avocado, spirulina and a whole apple for fiber? As you know, we juice, and I LOVE them, but I don't want to miss the boat on smoothies if they're better.
Thanks for your awesome blog, my friend!
Thanks for the comment, Toni! You are going to get a lot of the same benefits from juicing, however you can miss out on a lot of the vitamins from skins of fruits by juicing them (and of course the additional fiber). Juicing can end up being higher in sugar and calories as well, since you have to use more fruit to get the amount of liquid you need to fill your glass. With a smoothie, you are generally using the whole fruit/vegetable, so are filling your glass not just with juice, but also the bulk and fiber of the whole fruit (and so less sugar because you have less overall fruit juice in it). But it really depends what you are throwing in there and what you are going for. I am partial to smoothies because it is an easy way to get a lot of raw leafy greens in, and we tend to make pretty much all green smoothies of some sort. Spirulina is a great addition! We add chia seeds a lot, but I need to keep spirulina in mind too!
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