I love a fresh smoothie in the morning, not only do they taste great but I feel good knowing I am starting my day with a rush of vitamins, fiber, and other goodies for my body and brain. I use my smoothies as a nutrient-rich supplement rather than a meal replacement. This means I still eat a bagel, a bowl of cereal or a bowl of oatmeal with my smoothie. It also means I don’t add protein powder to my smoothies. (If you are wanting to turn your smoothie into a meal replacement, you might experiment with adding protein powders or oatmeal to the recipes below. The oatmeal won't change the flavor significantly, but some of the protein powders will.)
Here are two of my go-to smoothie recipes. I find they are best when I drink them right away, but they can last up to a day in the fridge.
Green Smoothie
½ Ripe avocado
1 Medium banana
2 Cups kale/spinach mix
¼ Cup frozen peas
20 oz filtered water
Blend together until smooth in a blender. Makes 2 smoothies.
(I imagine you could also throw these ingredients in a juicer, but honestly lots of people don't get enough fiber in their diet and blending keeps the fiber in.)
Red Smoothie
1 Roasted beet
1 Small carrot
1 tsp chia seeds
1 Small handful fresh cranberries
1 Large seedless orange peeled
A bit of orange zest
1 C spinach
20 oz filtered water
Blend together until smooth. Makes 2 smoothies.
I like to peel or grate my carrot rather than chop it to have a less chunky smoothie, but you could rough chop it and throw it in there too. I tend to buy a bunch of beets and roast them all at the beginning of the week. I have some variation of red smoothie all week that way and only have to turn the oven on once. The beet greens are totally edible and happen to be great sautéed.
(Please note that red beets can turn your urine and stool slightly red in color - this is totally normal so don’t freak out if you haven’t experienced that before. If you just can't get past that, you can use golden beets instead. You totally miss out on that beautiful deep pink color though.)