One Crack Trick for Better Green Drinks
Written by Jessie Mooney.
I probably don’t have to tell you about the benefits of green smoothies. These days nothing makes you look cooler than holding a green-tinted beverage, outside of St. Patrick’s Day. Besides the obvious trendy points, adding some leafy greens to your smoothie is a great way to sneak in some additional iron, fiber and plenty of vitamins to your day. Just make sure to avoid adding a lot of artificial ingredients and excess sugars or you kind of lose the point.
MORE: Super Smoothies for Smooth Skin
This is all green and great but always having a fresh bushel of spinach and kale on hand isn’t exactly feasible, especially since they spoil so fast. Solution? Kale cubes of course! Simply pre-puree your greens into handy ice cubes. This way you’ll always have greens on hand to pop in a smoothie, even if you haven’t been to the grocery store in two weeks.
These cubes were inspired by the type of people that freeze coffee into ice cubes to add to their iced coffee so that it doesn’t get watered-down (genius). Feel free to use any type of leafy green you have available but kale and spinach seem to work the best. Pre-pureeing greens also guarantees there won’t be chunks of kale or spinach strings in your smoothie and most, if not all, of the veggie taste will be masked.
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Kale and Spinach Cubes
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 14 cubes
Ingredients:
2 cups spinach
2 cups kale
¼ cup water
MORE: The Smoothie That Will Make You Love Kale
Directions:
1. Wash your greens and remove the fibrous center rib from the kale.
2. Puree the greens with water for 1-2 minutes or until it reaches a pourable consistency.
3. Pour into an ice cube tray and freeze for 30 minutes minimum.
4. Add as many as you like to any smoothie.
Have yet to perfect your green smoothie recipe? Check out these two simple and delicious varieties. Exact measurements aren’t important and if your smoothie seems to be too thick add some more liquid.
Each recipe makes 1 smoothie.
MORE: How to Make a Green Smoothie
Nutty Green Banana
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon nut butter
1/3 cup any type of milk
1 banana
3 green cubes
MORE: Smoothie Recipe Using Leftover Fruits
Berry Green Peaches
Ingredients:
2 heaping tablespoons yogurt
¼ cup frozen peaches
¼ cup frozen berries
1/3 cup juice
3 green cubes
Simply blend and enjoy!
Photos by Sarah Silbiger.
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