wild green smoothie

Let's get this party started! Here's a green smoothie that features apples, mangoes, and dandelion. Have fun playing with the ingredients and varying them to suit your taste.

Note on ingredients:

Eating organic and locally grown produce, when available, offers many benefits. It concretizes an intention to be intimate with the cycle of life while making decisions about our health. These decisions connect practical considerations for our own health with that of our families, communities, and planet.

That said, playing flexibly with these guidelines supports well-being. Do your best and trust your instincts as to what seems fresh, sustainable, and so forth. Your mindful intention in choosing ingredients matters as does your state of mind and body when eating. If you want some support in this process, you might enjoy the book and accompanying CD, Mindful Eating, by Jan Chozen Bays, M.D.

The greens offer a wealth of nutrition and the fruit and spices make it taste yummy while also providing health benefits. You might want to start with ratio of 60% fruit and 40% greens. This recipe holds to this principle.

Wild green smoothie:

(makes 1 quart)

handful or two of dandelion greens

1 or 2 large apple(s)

1 grapefruit or 2 lemons, peel removed.

1 inch slice peeled fresh ginger

handful frozen mango

2 cups filtered water

pinch ground cardamom

2 tablespoons ground golden flax seeds

If you're using a low-speed ("regular") blender, the consistency of this will not be as smooth as if using a high-speed blender such as a Vitamix or Blendtec (the kind used at Starbucks and other such places). Either way, it's mighty tasty.

Depending on the capacity of your blender, you might need to make this smoothie in batches to make the full yield of one quart.

Add the water, ground flax seed, and spice to the blender.

If you can, grind the flax fresh as it retains more nutrition that way. A dedicated grinder for this, which can also be used to grind spices is recommended.

Wash and rinse the greens and apple (and peeled ginger).

Chop the greens into pieces 3-4 inches length (so easy to put in blender)

core the apple and slice (an apple slicer works great for this, very fast!)

Add the greens, then the fresh and frozen fruit, and the ginger.

Cover and blend for 30-40 seconds or until consistency is suitable for you to enjoy.

Note: If using a BlendTec (what I use), choose the "whole juice" button.

Makes one quart (perhaps more depending on selection of ingredients).

Drink 8 to 16 ounces to start and as much as one quart. Refrigerate what you do not drink. This smoothie will keep in the refrigerator for several days. For maximum nutritional value (especially, enzymes), drink within ten minutes of preparation.