So its now 2010, and I wonder how many people have resolved to go on diets, get fit and be healthier? My take on all of those? Brilliant, obviously. But how many people may also end up giving up on these resolutions because its too hard? Being healthy shouldn't be hard, its what is natural to us, modern life just gets in the way very easily if we let it! And we don't all have to start living on vegetable juice and doing yoga every day to enjoy the fruits of a healthier lifestyle. Do what you can, and be happy with it! That way you'll keep on doing it, and won't end up slumped on the sofa feeling a failure because you ate a lot of icecream and haven't been to the gym all week!
A quick insert here, I'm writing specifically about Green Smoothies here, because they are especially good for you, there's nothing wrong with all fruit smoothies per se, its just that you can really really up the vitamin and general 'so damn good for you its unseemly'-ness of them by chucking in greens.
Its really easy when starting to include something like smoothies in your diet to feel restricted by recipes. Especially if you're introducing something new like the idea of putting-gasp-greens into them too, recipes suddenly seem like a necessary-they really aren't. So as well as putting up a couple of recipes, I'm going to give a general idea on proportions to use in the smoothies, and encourage you to experiment-worst case scenario is that you use greens which are too strong (see the note on Watercress below...eurgh...)and have to throw in extra fruit to even out the taste!
The benefits of Green Smoothies are approximately the same as juices, you're semi-digesting (aka as blending!) all those fruit and veg into a form that not only is more easily digested, but is also portable! This is one of the main reasons that I love smoothies, when I have a whole day of running around travelling, I know that rather than having to spend money on snacks/lunch that I wouldn't choose to eat anyway I can simply throw all the ingredients(except water) into the blender jug the night before, ready to be whizzed up and put in a flask first thing in the morning. Blending leaves much more of the fibre content of the ingredients too, so a smoothie is much more filling and sustaining than a juice. If I make up a flask full of smoothie that will easily keep me going for 6 hours or so.
So first, proportions for your Green Smoothie:
One and a half handfuls of fruit-my current favorites are mango, orange or pineapple.
Two handfuls of leafy greens-curly kale is cheap and extremely nutritious, spinach is great too, also romaine lettuce and rocket. I WOULDN'T recommend watercress-its very strong!
Half a handful of an 'emulsifier' - a term that I may have made up for a thickener, I tend to use frozen banana, or avocado, both give a really lovely smooth thickness to the drink. Avocado is particularly useful because it provides some dietary fat, needed to help the body absorb all the vitamins from the leafy greens.
Enough water to get the fruits and vegetables to a drinkable consistency...
The instructions, very simple indeed:
- Peel/ wash fruit, cut into chunks that you think your blender can deal with, and place in the blender jug.
- Wash greens, place on top of the fruit in the jug.
- Pour in a little water, approx a quarter of a pint should get you started.
- Blend until smooth-ish.
- Put in emulsifier, if its frozen banana make sure your blenders blades are tough enough for them. If its NOT frozen banana you may want to put in some ice at this stage so that the blender doesn't end up semi-cooking your smoothie! Blend again until smooth.
- Add more water if desired. Blend.
- Drink and enjoy!
These are not hard and fast rules, there are many recipes that are totally different (one to come below!), they're just a rough idea to help you get started. Proportions will vary according to personal taste, and what exact ingredients you're using. For those with sensitive digestion, its easiest to mix just one fruit and one vegetable at a time...
So just to get you started, here are a couple of recipes.
Mango and Kale Smoothie
1 Mango (peeled and cut into chunks,if you struggle peeling it with a knife a potato peeler can actually work quite well).
1 and a half to 2 handfuls of Kale (depending on how strong you want the smoothie to be!).
quarter of a pint of water.
1 Small/Medium frozen Banana .
Just follow the instructions as above!
This recipe makes a really filling and sustaining smoothie, I can have this as my breakfast and not get hungry until lunchtime, especially if I chuck in half an avocado too...I like using frozen bananas because they give it a texture almost like you've put in icecream, plus it means that you don't have to worry about using up all your bananas before they get too ripe, just freeze them once they're ripe when you can, they'll keep a few weeks. It also means you don't have to worry about putting in ice too.
Pear and Parsley Smoothie
2 Pears
30g/handful of Parsley-majority of stalks removed
Third of a pint of water
Ice
This one's quite different. I know it looks like an odd combination, but please try it, it really works. I enjoyed this one instead of dinner a fair bit over the festive season, after lots of big lunches! It tastes very cleansing, and is surprisingly satisfying. As I mentioned in the last post, Parsley is a quite the unsung hero in terms of nutrition, its really worth getting more than the odd sprinkle as a garnish into your diet!
So I think that's all for now. Yoga with Laura is a constantly evolving project, and its taking me in loads of new and exciting directions, I can't wait to let you in on them in the future....A sneak peek? The joys of raw chocolate (even Green & Blacks doesn't come close!), and exploring how you can try out yoga in London on the cheap ....
Much love to you all, and happy 2010!
