Going Green with Smoothies

From Gluten Free Easily

Tom’s Fruity Medicine Chest Smoothie

2 apples, cored and cut into chunks
2 ripe pears, cored and cut into chunks
1 to 2 cups water
2 lemons, juiced and seeds removed
1- to 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
5 kale leaves rinsed and torn
5 romaine lettuce leaves, spinach leaves, or collard greens, rinsed
1 cup coarsely chopped green cabbage, optional (Shirley’s note: I really like the smoothie with the cabbage. Sometimes I just use the 3-color cole slaw mix if I have that on hand instead of a head of cabbage, but a head of cabbage is far less expensive and keeps for a long time.)

Optional Additions:

POM Wonderful, a “glug” or two
1 to 2 kiwi fruit
1 handful of fresh parsley or mint leaves
2 to 3 tbsp flax seeds
½ cup soaked goji berries

Place the apple chunks, pear chunks, water, and lemon juice into a blender fitted with a sharp blade, a Blendtec, or a Vita-Mix and blend until smooth and creamy.

Add the ginger, kale, romaine (or spinach, or collard greens), and cabbage, and blend again until very smooth. Add more water for a thinner smoothie.

You can taste it now and if it is too “lettucy” for you, then add another pear and blend again. Add more water for a thinner consistency.

Recipe from The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook, by Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre. Check out their website at http://www.wholelifenutrition.net and their blog, The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen, at http://www.glutenfreewholefoods.blogspot.com.

Notes: If you use a standard-size blender, you will need to halve this recipe. Although my basic blender works okay for this recipe, I have to remember to add enough water and blend the smoothies long enough or they are too thick and still contain small particles of greens. If you have a Blendtec or a Vita-Mix, they will do a much better job of blending these smoothies.