food to glow

This green smoothie sneaks in the goodness of berry powders to amp the nutrition, colour and taste. A perfect, easily digested and delicious breakfast, snack or post-workout boost. How can you not feel better after drinking this?

The night before can mean a lot of things. Too much food, too much booze, too many desserts; too much indulgence, full stop.

Post-Thanksgiving it can be any and all of the above.  Even if there is a table-load of veggies, chances are those greens you I managed to eat were coated in butter, or roasted with lashings of rich extra virgin olive oil. Those sweet potatoes were certainly not a weekday steamed or baked side dish: sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving morph into quasi desserts – prep for the real desserts that will come later, baked in a pie shell and covered in whipped cream.

If you are reading this on Friday you may be in need of a lift. That’s where this green smoothie comes in. It will help with the headache, the bloating, the dehydration, the loss of electrolytes, give you a boost of vitamins and health-promoting phytonutrients, and generally make you feel a tad more like you want to feel.

But hang on, Kellie. That smoothie is re-ed.

Yup. It sure is. But it’s got a good fistful of spinach or kale in it, so let’s just call it green. 🙂

This green smoothie goes a bit further still with berry powders.

Fresh berries are obviously the go to in most cases, but in winter months why not give freeze-dried and powdered berries a go, too? At a conference of The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), Gary Stoner of Ohio State University stated that freeze-dried fruit retains phytonutrients such as ellagic acid (fruits and veg that are red, but also some nuts), carotenoids (in orange and yellow fruits and veg) and anthocyanins (deep reds, purples, blues).

Any freeze-dried berries will have lost much of their vitamin C, but I love fruit powders in smoothies and raw treats  because you can get a concentrated amount of extremely valuable phytonutrients without completely filling your plate or blender with the equivalent amount of fresh foods. These powders still have a good amount of fibre but without any of the water content; some nutrients are not only enhanced but quicker to be absorbed into the bloodstream. Besides, in this smoothie you are are still getting fresh stuff from the apple, spinach, and indeed fresh, frozen berries. Think of the powders as a booster ingredient not a substitute for fresh fruit.

Freeze-dried berries are found at many health food shops, online and places like Whole Foods, but if you have a dehydrator you can have a similar result – although freeze-drying retains more of the nutrients.

Just to say also that you don’t have to over-indulge to benefit from, and indeed enjoy, this ridiculously nutritious and delicious green smoothie. I mostly have it after a normal weeknight and feel very energised and perky. After Thanksgiving or the office Christmas party most of us would just settle for being upright. 🙂

This green smoothie sneaks in the goodness of berry powders to amp the nutrition, colour and taste. A perfect, easily digested and delicious breakfast, snack or post-workout boost. How can you not feel better after drinking this? xx

25g spinach or kale, washed and chopped (can be frozen)

75g high protein dairy or non-dairy yogurt (or kefir), such as Greek or Skyr

75g unsweetened almond milk or milk of choice

1 apple, cored and chopped

160-180g of fresh or frozen berries – I usually use blackberry and blueberry

1 tsp of one of the following berry powders (or two as I do) – raspberry, lingonberry, sea buckthorn, blueberry/bilberry

1 tsp beetroot powder, optional but really fab and so useful

1/2 tsp matcha green tea (optional) + squeeze of lemon to activate the all-important catechins

1-2 tsp Manuka honey, date/maple syrup, or a couple of pitted Medjool or Deglet nour dates – to taste

Handful of ice

Method:

Add the ingredients to your blender in the order suggested by the manufacturer and blend on Low until mixed, then High until smooth. With my Froothie Optimum 9400 I like to add the densest foods first. It blends it to a velvety texture. Just heavenly! Pour into two glasses and drink immediately for best nutrition, taste and texture. [/result]