Continuing with our green superfood series, I present you…the green smoothie! Now, let me clear something up. By smoothie, I do NOT mean juice. Blending and juicing are VERY different. I used to swear by juicing, claiming that I was getting all my essential vitamins and minerals via juicing. WRONG. This is a big misconception about juicing. Did you know that all that junk the juicer spits out (the “pulp”) is where 70-80% of the fiber and antioxidants are? That means that when you juice, you’re literally throwing away all that important stuff that is often hidden in the stems, seeds, etc. that the juicer disposes of! Yikes!

As opposed to juicing, which chops up or grinds your food, blending simply purees it into liquid form, meaning you are still drinking every single part of the fruit/vegetable…including those high fiber/antioxidant parts! In addition, blending incorporates air into your smoothie, making you feel fuller faster!

Don’t get me wrong, juicing is great when you want to get an extra boost, or when you want something tasty or flavorful in addition to a meal…but relying on these juices for your daily servings of veggies and/or meal replacement is not sufficient.

On that note, I made a green smoothie this morning that made me feel full and satisfied! The ingredients are:

1 cup spinach

1 cup kale

1 cup strawberries (halved)

1 half a pineapple spear

1 half a yellow peach

1 serving pomegranate-cranberry joint juice (liquid glucosamine- great for joint health and tastes yummy without a bunch of sugar! You can get this stuff at Costco).

Crush the ice, then liquify and….

Voila! You’ve got a not-so-appetizing-looking drink that tastes yummy and keeps you satisfied! Since kale and spinach can add a bitter, grassy taste to drinks, it’s important to incorporate fruits with dominant tastes, such as pineapple to overpower these potentially unpleasant tastes. However, this smoothie could be made with so many different options! And you could always utilize trial and error-have fun with it!

-Allison