I’m the last person to tell you that you need to drink a green smoothie everyday to be healthy….I’m all for moderation and eating foods you love BUT, you do need to eat your veggies.
Yep, your mum was right, vegetables are good for you…like, really good for you. We know this – and we know we’re meant to eat five serves a day….but how do we fit them all in??
As a dietitian, I’m pretty much a straight A student when it comes to getting my five a day – but my boyfriend is a different story. He spends most of the day in a meeting or running to the next one and barely gets time to eat at all, so whatever he does get time for is not exactly ideal – a ham and cheese sandwich isn’t doing much for the five-a-day tally.
So instead of nagging him to take a salad to work (never going to happen), snack on carrot and celery sticks all day (errr, no) or eat five serves of vegetables for dinner (again, not very likely), we’ve come to a compromise – a smoothie.
A fruit and veg packed smoothie in the morning means you can get half your daily fruit and veg needs before you even leave the house. This of course means you’ll not only be healthier but you’ll also feel all virtuous and high achieving for the rest of the day – win:win!
The best part is, you can basically add whatever you like… and make up a few days worth at a time for super efficiency. And because smoothies contain the whole fruit/veg, they’re a much healthier option than juices (and they don’t have to be green!).
So here’s a recipe to get you started (makes 2 serves)
Ingredients:
1 apple or pear
1 banana
2 sticks celery
1 carrot
Handful spinach or kale
1/2 beetroot
1cm slice ginger
Optional extras:
Handful mint
½ orange
½ lemon or lime, squeezed
Method:
Add enough water to cover everything, add some ice if you like and blend it up!
Leave a Reply