The Sydney Morning Herald logo
Advertisement

The benefits of green smoothies

Jill Dupleix
Jill Dupleix

Healthy alternative: A daily green smoothie can give you a much-needed nutrient lift.
Healthy alternative: A daily green smoothie can give you a much-needed nutrient lift.Steven Siewert

What are they?

Bright green blends of green leafy vegetables such as kale and spinach. Nutrient-rich, high in fibre and charged with antioxidants, they're fast muscling those wussy fruit smoothies out of the way in cafes, juice bars, and health-oriented restaurants. Regular consumption will knock 10 years off your age and add 10 years to your life. So they say.

Where are they?

Office workers queue for the freshly made, organic green smoothies at TOFWD (The Organic Food and Wine Deli) in Degraves Street in the city. "It might be a fad, but it's a great way to get more greens into people," says owner Jeanette Taylor. You can even stay home and do-it-yourself with a weekly delivery of an Organic Empire's Green Smoothie Box ($49), which contains sufficient organic produce for two smoothies a day for seven days. "People will do what's good for them if you make it convenient," says Organic Empire's nutritionist-turned-farmer Angela Gioffre. "So I wanted to make it easy for them to be healthy."

Advertisement

Why do I care?

They're thick, creamy and delicious; great for breakfast on the run and brilliant for sneaking green vegies into both kids and adults.

Can I do this at home?

Of course, just don't overdo it. Sip slowly and allow the body time to digest what is essentially raw food.

Green smoothie

Advertisement

Use this as your base recipe and juggle accordingly - you might prefer avocado to banana, orange to apple - to suit your own taste.

1 cup tightly packed curly kale or spinach, washed

2 tbsp parsley leaves

Half a green apple, chopped

1 banana, peeled and chopped

Advertisement

Quarter avocado, peeled and chopped

100g cucumber or 1 celery stalk, chopped

300ml cold filtered water or coconut water

1. Place the kale or spinach and parsley, apple, banana, avocado and cucumber or celery in the blender.

2. Add the water or coconut water and 4 or 5 ice cubes and blend well for 60 seconds until thick and green.

Advertisement

Tip: Feel free to add one or two of the following as you go: cos lettuce, orange, green melon, yoghurt, organic milk, almond milk, ginger, almonds, chia seeds (soaked), coconut oil, whey protein powder, peanut butter, bee pollen, lecithin.

Makes 1 or 2

The best recipes from Australia's leading chefs straight to your inbox.

Sign up
Jill DupleixJill Dupleix is a Good Food contributor and reviewer who writes the Know-How column.

From our partners

Advertisement
Advertisement