How to make a green smoothie for St. Patrick's Day

Mar 06, 2013 10:25 AM by Maria Mora

Posted in How-To / Food & Kitchen How-tos

green goodness

Boost your health

Looking for a delicious way to get more nutrients in for breakfast? This St. Patrick’s Day, start your morning with a fresh green smoothie. Whether you plan on spending the evening partying or not, this will get you off to a great start.

Step 1: Add liquid first

Avoid the dreaded air bubble in your blender by covering the blades in a liquid of your choice before you start adding solid ingredients. If you do get an air bubble, resist the urge to shake your blender or pound on it while it’s whirring; you could permanently damage the appliance. Choose a healthy liquid like almond milk, low-sugar apple juice or fresh carrot juice.

Step 2: Use frozen fruit instead of ice

Smoothies are best when they’re icy and thick. The best way to add thickness and ice is to use frozen fruit instead of frozen juice or water. Buy frozen bags of fruit at the grocery store or freeze your own. Antioxidant-rich cherries are great, while strawberries have tons of fiber. For added sweetness, try cubes of frozen watermelon. For creaminess, try frozen bananas.

Step 3: Boost green power with kale or spinach

Here’s where you start getting green. In addition to juice and frozen fruit, toss green, leafy vegetables into your smoothie. Believe it or not, spinach and kale can be added to smoothies without affecting the taste. They will give the smoothie a green shade that varies depending on the color of the fruits you’ve used.

Step 4: Add wheatgrass powder for extra green goodness

For your green St. Patrick’s Day smoothie, don’t stop at leafy greens. Add organic wheatgrass powder for a huge health boost. This healthy additive makes your smoothie easier on the digestive system and can satisfy your daily requirement for many vitamins and minerals. Most will also give your smoothie a deep green shade, perfect for you or your little leprechauns.

Step 5: Sweeten with organic honey

Depending on the veggies and fruits you’ve used, your smoothie may lack sweetness. If you’re making your St. Patrick’s Day smoothie for kids, be sure to sweeten it to taste using a natural sweetener like organic honey or agave syrup. Give your mixture a quick taste before you remove it from the blender. Add small amounts of sweetener as needed until you get the desired flavor.