If you are into fitness and treating your body like a temple you may well have typed in the word “Vegetable Smoothies” into Google or other search engine at some point or another. Trying to find delicious smoothie recipes is not too difficult. By just typing the words “vegetable smoothie” you will get some 6 million search engine results! Yes, that’s right, 6 million. That’s a pretty high number of options available to you. Even just as a refreshing drink, nothing can really quite beat a cold mouth popping smoothie. After a stressful workout or a long run there is nothing that will rehydrate you quicker.
Fruit smoothies are extremely delicious and seem to be a hit with the kids, but how about trying something different?
Vegetable Smoothies these days are really in abundance. Although vegetables don’t have that gorgeous sweet taste to them when they are blended, unlike some fruits, if you add just the right amount of ingredients, they can certainly come into their own and taste just as nice.
We thought we would give you a couple of Vegetable Smoothies recipes that we have tried, and which we think have a really great flavor.
First off Spicy Carrot Smoothie
This is what you will need:
1 cup of chopped and cooked carrots
½ cup of apple juice
¼ cup of apple sauce
¼ inch piece of peeled ginger root
¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon of salt (add to personal taste)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (add this to personal taste)
Add all the ingredients into your blender (except the salt and cayenne pepper) and blend on a low setting and slowly increase the speed until you get a creamy smooth mixture. You can then add the salt and cayenne pepper to your own personal taste as seasoning.
Next up is the Broccoli and Blueberry Smoothie
You will need:
1 cup of frozen blueberries
½ cup of chopped steamed broccoli
1 cup of (full fat – 100% pure juice) cranberry
½ cup plain low-fat yogurt
Combine all the ingredients together in a blender until it is smooth. If you want to add a little more flavor to it you can also add strawberries or blackberries, but we will leave that one up to you to decide.
Our next one is….Carrot and Cantaloupe Smoothie
Your ingredients for this will be:
1 – 1½ cups carrot or carrot and orange juice
2 cups of ripe diced cantaloupe melon
2 tablespoons of concentrated orange juice
1 cup low fat, frozen yogurt (vanilla) or non-dairy frozen dessert
This one is really rich and creamy and you will need to put all your ingredients into the blender and blend until you get the texture that you prefer – some people like to blend this less to give it a more chunky taste. If you prefer it more in the liquid form then you can add extra liquid. Extra apple juice will give it more taste.
Here’s our next Vegetable Smoothies one which is a great way to kick off your day.
Tomato, Cucumber and Pepper Smoothie
Grab these ingredients:
2 cups of tomato juice
½ cup peeled and chopped cucumber
½ cup chopped red bell pepper
2 tablespoons chopped scallions
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon hot pepper sauce
¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
Place all your ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth. You will need to put the finished mixture in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to let it chill.
Here is a great combination recipe…
Apple & Spinach Smoothie
Here’s what you will need to make it:
1 cup of apple juice
2 cups of chopped spinach
1 medium sized chopped banana
1 cup of chopped carrots
Pop your ingredients, one by one into the blender and keep the blender on pulse as you add them. When they are sufficient blended add 4/5 ice cubes.
And finally….how about going back to your childhood and making up a batch of popsicles?
Green Popsicle Smooth
You will only need the very minimum amount of ingredients for this one:
2 cups of spinach
2 cups of frozen berries (you can pretty much choose anything you like)
2 bananas
1 cup of water
(popsicle molds)
Blend all the ingredients together and then simply pour into your molds and freeze for a healthy snack.
All of these smoothies vary in portion sizes so it’s up to you whether you want to make a large batch or just have a glass or two! Go on, try one or two as a refreshing drink or even include them as part of your weight loss diet plan. Don’t forget to take a look at our fruit smoothie options too for some even more great recipes.