Building a Better Smoothie

Smoothies can be a great complement to your food plan and can help make “food as medicine” convenient and delicious.

When possible, choose organic ingredients. Put the ingredients into a high-powered blender in the order described below. Process the mixture until your smoothie is the desired consistency. 

Base Liquid
Use 150 ml of water or brewed tea as the base liquid, if desired. Tea is sold as tea bags or dried bulk herbs. You can also use fresh herbs, if available.
When purchasing tea, ask manufacturers what contaminants they screen for and look for unbleached tea bags. Here are general guidelines for how much tea to use per 250 mls of water:
• Tea bags: 1 tea bag
• Bulk (dried) tea: 1 teaspoon
• Fresh herbs: 1 tablespoon

To brew tea, pour boiled water over the herbs, cover, and steep for 5-10 minutes. Remove the tea bags or strain out herbs. Let tea cool 20 minutes, then add 150 mls to the blender for one smoothie. Refrigerate any extra
prepared tea.

Here are a few of the many types of tea you can use as the base liquid in smoothies:
Cinnamon tea
Cistus tea
Dandelion tea
Elderberry tea
Ginger tea
Green tea
Jasmine tea
Lemon balm tea
Milk thistle tea
Peppermint tea
Rosemary tea

Juice
If desired, add 50 mls of chilled juice to the blender. Choose 100% juice without added sweeteners or salt. Here are some examples of juice you could use:
Beet juice
Cherry juice
Cranberry juice
Orange juice
Pomegranate juice
Prune juice
Purple grape juice
Tomato juice
Other
Fruit
Add ½ cup of organic fresh or frozen, unsweetened fruit to the blender.

Here are some examples of fruit to include:
Apple
Banana
Berries (any kind)
Kiwifruit
Mango
Melon (any kind)
Nectarine
Papaya
Peach
Pear
Pineapple

Add 1-2 cups of leafy greens or other fresh or frozen vegetables to the
blender.

Here are some vegetables to consider:
Avocado
Beets
Carrots
Cauliflower
Cucumber
Leafy greens
Peas
Sweet potato
Winter squash
Zucchini

*Most can be used raw, but starchy vegetables (such as sweet potatoes and winter squash) should be cooked and chilled. Before blending, chop firmer vegetables (such as beets and carrots) into small pieces.

Protein
Add a good protein source to the blender, such as any of these ingredients:
Hempseeds–2 T
Milk (dairy, pea, oat, or soy)–½ c
Pumpkin seeds–2 T
Nut butter (such as almond)–1 T
Silken tofu–½ c
Soy powder–2 T
Whey powder–2 T
Yoghurt or kefir–½ c

Flaxseeds
Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseeds (or flaxseed meal) to the blender. Store extra ground flaxseeds or flax meal in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.

Tip
Pairing similarly coloured vegetables and fruits (such as cucumber with honeydew melon) makes a pretty smoothie

T = teaspoon ; C = cup