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The Best Green Smoothie

Name: The Best Green Smoothie
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Cuisine: Vegan
Ingredients: 1 cup unsweetened almond or soy milk; 1-2 handfuls of spinach; 2 frozen bananas; 2-4 soft pitted dates; 2 tbsp hemp hearts; 1 tbsp natural peanut butter; 2 ice cubes; 2 tbsp hemp seeds; 2 tbsp chia seeds; 2 tbsp raw buckwheat groats; 2 tbsp slivered almonds (or pumpkin seeds)

Smoothies are my best food friend 🙂 You can have one for breakfast, you can have one for a snack, you can even have one for lunch or dinner if the mood strikes! Smoothies are a great way to pack a ton of nutrition into one quick and easy meal.

I love that you can tailor smoothies to suit your exact needs at the moment. Want something light? Stick to fruits and vegetables and choose a light base like chilled green tea or juice diluted with water.

Need something a little more substantial to tide you over for a few hours? No problem! Choose a heartier base like soy or hemp milk with your choice of fruits and vegetables and be sure to include nutrient dense ingredients like nut butters, seeds, protein powders or oils. You can even play around with the yield! Make a little smoothie, or a BIG smoothie. I always seems to make REALLY BIG smoothies so I usually have to share 😛

This smoothie is right in the middle of light and hearty. Almond milk is low in calories and protein, so I consider it a light base. Almond milk + frozen bananas creates a lovely velvety, creamy texture. Peanut butter and hemp seeds provide a big boost of protein and healthy fats, not to mention extra staying power and a delicious nutty flavour. A handful or two of fresh spinach adds that green goodness (don't worry, it's super mild!) Add a couple of soft pitted dates for a touch of extra sweetness.

This particular green smoothie is an old stand-by now. I made my first rendition of this smoothie waaay back in 2012 when I first went vegan and started eating healthier and more intuitively. I have loved it ever since! There's no doubt, this is my favourite way to eat greens.

If you haven't tried a green smoothie before, the first one is kind of terrifying, ‘Does it taste ‘green’? Isn't it gross?’

The thing is, you CAN make a gross smoothie. I've done it myself plenty of times! My first time blending kale into a smoothie did NOT go well. (Tip: Blending kale into a smoothie requires a high-speed blender, not a shoddy $10 immersion blender.) Trust me, having to chew the kale in your smoothie is the worst. In fact, it was so bad that I haven't put kale in a smoothie since (and that was at least 2 years ago!)

So as you can see, one bad experience could have you swearing off green smoothies forever!

I promise you, this recipe will not scare you off of green smoothies. Even if you don't think you like green smoothies, I 100% believe you will LOVE this one.

This is the green smoothie you need to make if:

you've never tried a green smoothie
you're want to encourage someone you love to eat healthier
you've tried green smoothies and decided they're just awful
you aren't a breakfast person or you simply don’t have time for breakfast in the morning
you're trying to give up caffeine (this smoothie is weirdly energizing… like SO energizing that I've accidentally quit drinking coffee multiple times (for months at a time!) because I was drinking this smoothie instead.)
you tend to feel nauseated/ill first thing in the morning (I get really sick and nauseated in the morning if I haven't had a proper night of sleep. This smoothie is like some magical cure-all for an upset stomach, I can't even tell you how many times this smoothie has made me feel 100% better after drinking it.)
you have a ‘thing’ about textures - this smoothie is super easy to drink, it’s smooth, thin, and just slightly creamy
you just want to add another delicious green smoothie to your repertoire

Now blend away!

PS: Back to the whole "being scarred for life by a chunky kale smoothie thing", if you have a great kale smoothie recipe you'd like to share, I'd love some recommendations!