Super Green Smoothies: Healthy Recipes for Healing and Happiness
Super Green Smoothies: Healthy Recipes for Healing and Happiness
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Overview
After battling and surviving a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer, Sally Obermeder decided to take back control of her health. By making one simple change—switching to the green smoothie lifestyle—she lost more than 15 kilograms. Her skin glowed, her energy levels soared and she felt light, lean, strong, healthy and happy. Best of all, it was easy.
Sally and her sister Maha have created 60 healthy and delicious green smoothie recipes that are easy to make and packed full of benefits. Each one is a taste sensation - think leafy greens, fresh vegies and fruits as well as added superfoods that leave you feeling energetic, lean and strong as well as stop those cravings for sugar and unhealthy fatty foods and snacks.
Kick-start your way to weight-loss, energy and all-round good health with Super Green Smoothies, and look and feel great, starting now. Let the transition begin!
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781925267327 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Allen & Unwin Pty., Limited |
| Publication date: | 05/01/2015 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 37 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Super Green Smoothies
60 Delicious Recipes for Weight Loss, Energy and Vitality
By Sally Obermeder, Maha Koraiem
Allen & Unwin
Copyright © 2015 Sally Obermeder and Maha KoraiemAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-925267-32-7
CHAPTER 1
getting organised
before you begin
I'll try to address as many important things as I can upfront, in order to make your routine of a daily green smoothie as easy as possible. Eventually, though, you'll just have to dive right in and start making them. I promise you'll look and feel better for it.
Blending versus juicing
I'm often asked whether blending is better than juicing, and my answer is always the same — they're both equally important for your body. Both give your body nutrients in an easier, more efficient way than eating all those vegies and fruits on their own. (Can you really eat spinach, kale, broccoli, celery, avocado, lemon and banana in one sitting? I know I can't!) They're also quick and easy to make, and taste delicious.
The difference between juicing and blending is that juicing removes the fibre in vegies and fruit that our bodies aren't able to digest easily, so you just get the nutrients. Blending, on the other hand, breaks the fibre down in a way that the body can digest it more easily. So you get the benefit of the fibre, which is good for your digestive tract, and the fibre also means you end up feeling full for longer.
There's been a lot of talk lately about cold-pressed juices, which are basically juices extracted from fruit and vegies by crushing and pressing. Because these processes don't generate as much heat as blending does, the nutrients remain predominantly intact. So while juicing is fine, I think blending is superior as you're consuming the whole vegetable or fruit.
Blending not only gives you nutrients and fibre but also the opportunity to add extras such as protein, good fats and oils, and superfoods such as chia seeds, maca powder, bee pollen and spirulina. All of these added extras give you the chance to boost your vitamin and mineral intake, which is great for lean muscle creation, increased energy, improved digestion, glowing skin, hair and nails, and improved immunity. Your body also benefits from all the nutrients in the flesh and skin of the produce: in most of my smoothie recipes, you will blend these as well.
Equipment
Right ... so you need a blender. Both Maha and I have a commercial-quality blender and for us, this was the best choice. It is definitely an investment buy, but if you're committed to making a lifestyle change and having a smoothie every day then, in my view, it's 100 per cent worth it. Because my blender is so powerful, I can make a smoothie in less than two minutes. It blends ice and frozen fruits and vegies with ease. It also does other cool things like make ice-cream and soup (and heat it up), but truthfully I don't use it for any of those things. I just wanted a blender that could handle whole ingredients and save me time chopping.
Of course, not everyone wants to — or is in fact able to — fork out for one of these. And that's totally OK. You can still make great, healthy smoothies with a normal everyday blender that you can buy at a department or discount store. You just have to adjust the way you blend, and it might take a little longer to get the right consistency for your smoothie (for more information, see here).
TIP: When people ask me if it's worth the investment for a professional blender, I say that if you already own a blender of any kind, first use that and see how committed you are to making smoothies. If it turns out that you love smoothies and are making them regularly, you can always upgrade. I just encourage you to start today with what you have to hand.
Smoothie tips for beginners
When you're creating your own smoothie recipe, I recommend aiming for 60 per cent vegies and 40 per cent fruit. Over time, you can increase this to 70 per cent vegies and 30 per cent fruit, which is what I do. You'll find that different fruits have different levels of sweetness, so you can tweak your recipes accordingly. For example, dates and frozen bananas are very sweet, whereas apples don't give you the same hit of sweetness. In this book, we've created different sections to allow for your smoothie 'evolution'— beginning with some simple recipes and working right up to 100 per cent vegie smoothies.
Mix your greens up! Although I love spinach and kale, it's important to switch greens on a regular basis. Why? Well, almost all leafy Brassicas — spinach, silverbeet (Swiss chard) and rocket (arugula) — contain small amounts of what are known as alkaloids. If you consume the same green for weeks on end, and don't rotate them, then the alkaloids can build up in your body and you will develop the symptoms of alkaloid poisoning. These can include nausea, cold sweats, tingling in the fingers and headaches. Admittedly, you'd need to consume quite a lot to get alkaloid poisoning but it can happen, so I want to flag it. Besides, rotating your greens will provide you with added nutritional benefits. Try rotating varieties of lettuce with bok choy, rocket (arugula), radicchio, sprouts or endive.
Drink your smoothie straightaway. If you have some left over, store it in an airtight container or mason jar and pop it in the fridge, where it will keep for 24 hours. If you know you won't be able to finish the smoothie in that time, freeze it. You can always pop it back into your blender a couple of days later, along with some fresh ice and fresh herbs or lemon juice for extra zing.
I believe that frozen ingredients are best for a few reasons. First, colder smoothies generally taste better. Second, making the smoothie is quicker and easier — if you have prepared your ingredients by peeling (for example, avocado and other tough-skinned fruits and vegetables) and chopping them before you freeze them, they're right there, prepped and ready to go. Finally, you can cut down on food wastage — whenever you have fresh fruit, vegies or herbs in your fridge that are on the verge of becoming overripe or soft, or going off, you can freeze them for your smoothies instead of tossing them out. Gotta love that!
Sometimes, when you experiment with new vegie and fruit combos, you will make a smoothie that just doesn't taste great. It happens. Instead of throwing it out, grab an ice-cube tray, pour in your smoothie and freeze. You can throw a few cubes into a sweeter-tasting smoothie on another day. Freezing smoothies into ice cubes is also a good idea when you've made a batch that's too big. No wastage!
fresh and frozen
I'm often asked about which fruit and vegies you can or can't freeze to use in smoothies. The reality is that you can make every smoothie with fresh or frozen ingredients, or a combination of the two.
I tend to use frozen ingredients because I like to be organised and have every-thing in my freezer prepared, labelled and ready to go.
It's fine to use fresh ingredients, but you'll need to add a bunch of ice cubes to make it icy because that generally makes it taste best. But know that when you do this, you'll also be diluting the consistency of the smoothie and therefore the intensity of the flavour — another reason why I prefer frozen ingredients.
Ingredients to always have in your freezer
Avocado: Remove the skin and seed, then freeze into halves.
Banana: Peel it then, if you don't have a commercial-grade blender, slice it up before freezing.
Berries: I always use frozen berries, as they're cheaper and I can have them on hand, regardless of the season. Freeze in 70 g (2 ½ oz/½ cup) servings.
Broccoli: Chop it into smaller florets.
Brussels sprouts: Halve these before freezing.
Celery: Use whole stalks, with the leaves attached, but chop them before freezing.
Cucumber: Chop into halves.
Endive: Freeze into 25 g (1 oz/1 cup) servings.
Grapes: I freeze both red and green.
Green beans: Freeze into 60 g (2 ¼ oz/½ cup) servings.
Herbs: Use mint, basil and parsley, and freeze them in bunches.
Kale: Freeze into 50 g (1 ¾ oz/2 cups) servings.
Kiwi fruit: Peel and halve.
Lemons: Peel and halve.
Limes: Leave peel on and quarter.
Lettuce: Freeze into 40 g (1 ½ oz/1 cup) servings.
Mango: I buy frozen mango from my local fruit store and keep it year round. If you're using fresh mango, peel and remove the stone.
Passionfruit: Scoop out the pulp and seeds before freezing them.
Pineapple: If you can't get your hands on a fresh pineapple, use tinned. Drain the juice, then rinse before freezing.
Rocket (arugula): Freeze into 20 g (¾ oz/1 cup) servings.
Snow peas: Freeze into 50 g (2 oz/½ cup) servings.
Spinach: Freeze into 45 g (1 ½ oz/1 cup) servings.
Stone fruits: Freeze these only once they're ripe. Remove the stone before chopping.
Tomatoes: Chop these first.
Watermelon: Freeze into 175 g (6 oz/1 cup) servings.
fridge and pantry
There are a few items I like to keep on hand in my fridge and pantry that give smoothies an added boost. By no means do you have to get all of these. I just like to mix up my smoothies for both nutrition and taste.
Maybe start with a few and see how you go
Cacao: You can use both powder and nibs.
Coconut water: I like to use the water from a fresh coconut. If I can't get that I'll use a carton variety (see also here).
Flavour boosters: Try vanilla extract and shredded coconut.
Green supplement powders: Generally available from health food and vitamin shops, these are a blend of nutrient-dense greens, fibre, fruits, vegies, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
Milk: Cow's milk, almond milk, rice milk, coconut milk, oat milk, soy milk and quinoa milk.
Nut butter: Almond butter, cashew butter and peanut butter.
Nut meal: Almond meal, hazelnut meal and flaxseed (linseed) meal.
Nuts and seeds: Raw almonds, Brazil nuts, walnuts, macadamias and pumpkin seeds.
Oils: Coconut oil, flaxseed (linseed) oil and hemp oil.
Protein powder: Adding protein powder to smoothies is a quick and efficient way to add protein, which helps you feel full for longer. If I am having my smoothie post-workout, I generally add protein powder but there are no hard and fast rules. Flavour-wise my preferences are vanilla, banana and coffee, but if chocolate or berry is more your thing, then just follow your taste buds. It's a great idea to keep a few flavours on rotation in the pantry.
Spices: Ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, allspice and nutmeg.
Sugar-free sweeteners: Stevia and rice malt syrup.
Superfoods: Goji berries, bee pollen, chia seeds, maca powder, spirulina, liquid chlorophyll and probiotic powder. Superfoods are called 'super' because they really give your body a mega-boost of benefits, including aiding digestion, ramping up energy levels, increasing immunity and improving joint health.
Sweeteners: Honey, agave syrup and dates.
food swaps
As you go through the recipes in the book you'll find that you may not have a certain ingredient on hand, or you love a particular recipe but want to try mixing things up a little. Go for it — the world is your smoothie!
Some swaps that work well
Milk: Alternate between full-fat, skim, soy, almond, rice, oat, quinoa or coconut milk — whatever you like. When I refer to coconut milk, I mean carton coconut milk, such as Coco Quench, not tinned coconut milk. The difference is the fat and kilojoule (calorie) content, with the carton variety being much lower. Coco Quench is a blend of organic coconut and rice milk and it tastes great. If you're going to use the tinned variety, opt for 'light' or, alternatively, go 50/50: half coconut milk, half water. If you want to go milk-free you can swap it with water.
Cacao powder: Swap cacao powder with cacao nibs.
Greens: If you don't have a particular green on hand — for example, silverbeet (Swiss chard), endive or radicchio — then you can instead use whatever you do have, such as cos lettuce, spinach, etc.
Lemons: Use either lemons or limes, whichever is in season and readily available.
Oils: I tend to use a lot of coconut oil due to its many health benefits — improved cholesterol and increased metabolism, plus it's also good for hair and skin — but if you don't have any in stock, you can use flaxseed (linseed) oil, hemp oil, rice bran oil, avocado oil, macadamia oil, pumpkin seed oil or walnut oil instead.
Protein powder: Use whatever variety suits you best — pea, whey, kelp, brown rice or casein. If you like you can also add a raw egg instead. I know it's not for everyone, but I love it.
Sweeteners: Use agave syrup or honey. You can also use dates if you prefer. If you are going sugar-free, opt for rice malt syrup or stevia.
Vanilla: Swap vanilla pods with vanilla extract or vanilla sugar.
Water: Switch coconut water and plain water.
Serving sizes
Our recipes serve either one or two. One serve is 500 ml (17 fl oz) or 2 cups. Two serves is 1 litre (35 fl oz) or 4 cups. I generally make enough for two serves: I have up to 750 ml (26 fl oz/3 cups) for breakfast and the rest as an afternoon snack. This is just my preference, but as always you should do what suits you best.
Breakfast, lunch or dinner?
Personally, I have my smoothie as a breakfast replacement because that's when I'm generally doing a million things and trying to rush out the door. For me, it means that I know I've had a massive kick-start of vegies, fruit, protein and superfood. So no matter what else happens that day, I know I've had a full day's worth of nutrients and vitamins. Any extra fruit and vegies I have after that is really just a bonus. I also find it gives me a massive morning buzz without caffeine. I feel good knowing that I've started my day right, and it makes me happy to know I'm looking after myself.
I have my second smoothie in the afternoon when things are hectic and I'm most susceptible to eating anything with fat or sugar, or both. The smoothie tastes great, it fills me up and it kills any cravings for processed food.
TIP: So when should you have your smoothie? What are the rules? There are none. You can have yours whenever you want.
If you prefer to replace your lunch or dinner with a smoothie, go right ahead. I prefer to sit down to a meal at night, but I have friends who don't and the night-time smoothie works better for them.
It's all about you and your lifestyle. You might not want a smoothie as a meal replacement. Fine. In that case simply have a smaller quantity with your meal.
Do what's right for you. As long as you're consuming a smoothie, it doesn't really matter whether it's 7 a.m. or 7 p.m. Your body will thank you.
Colour me happy
I try to eat a variety of vegies and fruits, so you'll see these smoothies in a few different colours. There's green, red, white, yellow, orange and brown. My aim is to give myself, and you, the maximum range of health benefits, and by eating the largest mix of fruit and vegies you possibly can, that's what you get.
The smoothies are predominantly based on green vegetables but I've also included a few of my favourite recipes that use beetroot, cauliflower, pumpkin and even radishes. The best diets are those that incorporate a mix of all the good stuff.
To help you pinpoint specific needs, such as weight loss, increased energy or improved digestion, I've put together a quick guide to let you know which smoothie recipes would be best. This guide can be found, but see also the guide to benefits provided with each recipe.
CHAPTER 2frequently asked questions
Why do you have smoothies?
Well, having a smoothie a day is one of the easiest, simplest changes I made to my diet, and what I gained in return was weight loss, more energy, clearer skin, shinier hair, better sleep, improved digestion and immunity, and a whole lot of nutrients. I also found it removed my desire for sugar and processed foods. There is no way I could sit down and eat this many greens in one go.
What equipment do I need to make smoothies?
All you need to make delicious smoothies are a sharp knife, a vegetable peeler, a chopping board and a blender.
Do I need to buy an expensive blender?
A blender is a great kitchen essential that can be used for many different purposes — soups, dips, etc. — so it is a good investment buy. However, you don't need to spend a heap of money to make great smoothies.
If you already have a blender, try it out and see how you go using it to make smoothies. You might need to adjust your ingredients slightly to get the right consistency. I suggest using a little more liquid and blending your greens and liquid first before adding the remaining ingredients. You may also need to add your ingredients gradually so that you don't overpower the motor of the blender, or add a little more liquid to achieve the right consistency, which may be necessary no what matter which type of blender you own.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Super Green Smoothies by Sally Obermeder, Maha Koraiem. Copyright © 2015 Sally Obermeder and Maha Koraiem. Excerpted by permission of Allen & Unwin.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
How it all began xi
The smoothie lifestyle
1 Getting organised 3
2 Frequently asked questions 17
Recipes
3 Start simple 31
4 Fast and fresh 43
5 Get lean 75
6 All vegies 119
7 Something sweet 131
8 Kid-friendly 153
Your guide to the benefits 166
Index 170
Photography credits 173
Thank you 175
Still want more? 176
About Sally 178