What’s In YOUR Smoothie??

I start most mornings with a cool, creamy blend of fruit and spinach or kale, kicked up with pure green tea powder (or spirulina) and a bit of fresh grated ginger. It’s a delicious, naturally sweetened delivery system for a variety of nutritious and water-filled whole foods, giving me a head start on my daily requirement of vitamins and antioxidants.

I use the Rishi 1 teaspoon individual packets of green tea, although there are other brands I really like, too.  I tend to make a mess when I measure the fine powder on my own.

There’s a system to producing a perfectly blended smoothie. Although the fruits can vary, fresh or frozen, watery or dense, the following order of operations always turns out a lovely, drinkable result, with no weird chunks floating around or getting caught up in the straw.

Always start with water (or whatever liquid you are using) and the spinach. Get that spinach pureed up nice and smooth with enough water to blend the fruits as well. You need a  liquid base to help everything move around.

Second, add the matcha or any powder you may be using. The powder goes down before the fruit to keep it from blowing around and getting stuck to the pitcher when you turn it on.  Next, add your softest fruits.  Then add the ginger (if using).

In general, the more water-filled the fruit the harder it freezes, so frozen strawberries on top over pineapple and bananas. The idea is, the heavier fruits help to push down the lighter fruits into the blade, so everything blends up smoothly and quickly.

Ideally, when not using any added sweetener you want to make sure you have a balance of sweeter fruits, like pineapple and banana to offset the not-so-sweet fruits, like frozen strawberries or blueberries.

Additionally, it’s a good idea, if you are using frozen fruits to have a balance of fresh and frozen, so the smoothie doesn’t end up too thick and milkshake-like. Usually just making sure the banana is fresh is enough for me to keep the consistency drinkable.

Now, blend it up starting on about medium and then increase to high as the fruit starts to move around. Check liquid and add a bit more if needed to help get things going, careful not to add too much, because it will water down the flavor and sweetness when you are not adding any sweetener or juice.

So, now that I’ve shown you mine… what’s in YOUR smoothie??

Ingredients:

Water

Big handful fresh spinach

1 tsp. matcha green tea powder or spirulina

1/2 to 1 fresh  banana, broken into 2 inch chunks

1 tsp. fresh grated ginger (optional)

1 cup fresh or frozen fruit, cut into chunks