VEGAN | WFPB | QUICK | EASY | GLUTEN-FREE | REFINED SUGAR-FREE |  10 MINUTES OR LESS

For those of you who wish you could have an expensive juicer to include more veggies in your day, consider your blender.  Usually blenders are used to make smoothies of fruit with the traditional spinach or kale in it, but did you know you can make smoothies with veggies we usually juice with, like carrots, lettuce, celery, and cucumber?   What can be easily juiced can most likely be easily blended.  An advantage of drinking smoothies over juicing is that you're getting the whole vegetable instead of removing the fiber like a juicer does.   I still love a good cold-pressed juice now and then, but if you don't have a juicer or just want to mix it up, blending your fruits and veggies into smoothies is still a quick and easy way to get more - including more variety - into your day.  This recipe is an example of that:  Sunny Smoothie Bowl.

Carrots and romaine are the star veggies in the Sunny Smoothie instead of the typical kale or spinach.  I don't bother peeling the carrots, going for all that nutrition.  Blended with mango and banana, the color becomes a lovely shade of "sunny".  

I love lime in my smoothies, but the juice doesn't really give the lime flavor I'm looking for.  So what's a girl to do?  Toss in the whole lime!  Well, that would make it pretty tart - a whole wedge of lime.  I vary the size of the wedge, depending on how much tart lime flavor I want.  You may want to start with a thin slice and go from there.  With the rind included, you're not only getting more nutrition; you are getting the green goodness we make zest out of, which is where the flavor is at.  Yes!

If you don't have a powerful blender, I would recommend investing in that over a juicer.  That way, you are able to still enjoy the produce you'd like to juice, but can still make smoothies.  This recipe shows how some of the typical "juicing" ingredients can be made into a smoothie - and here's a bonus:  You can make juice in your blender, too, by simply using fresh ingredients instead of frozen and/or ice.  Blenders do it all!

I put a range in for the liquid and ice in this recipe, so that you can discover the thickness you like.  If you are using less liquid, especially with more ice, you will really need a high-powered blender.  Good news, though, if you don't have one:  add more liquid and less ice if you have a standard blender and you'll be just fine.  Unless your blender is on its last legs.  If that's the case, I hope a powerful one is in your near future! 

The Recipe

VEGAN | WFPB | QUICK | EASY | GLUTEN-FREE | REFINED SUGAR-FREE |  10 MINUTES OR LESS 

YIELD:  About 5 ½ cups; 4 servings 

PREP TIME:   5 minutes
BLEND TIME:  About 1 minute
TOTAL TIME:  6 minutes

RECIPE CATEGORY:  Breakfast or any time
PRIMARY TOOLS:  A blender with some power; high-speed blender if going for a thick smoothie
COOKING METHOD: Blend

PRINT

Note: Kitchen times are approximate and will depend on various factors, like your personal kitchen speed and how many hands you have working with you. Cooking can become a zen experience. Enjoy the ride!

Here's a Vitamix now available on Amazon as an "Amazon's Choice" - since it's refurbished, it's more affordable:  

Clicking the link below will take you to Amazon, where you can also look at new Vitamix and other blenders.  By making a purchase through the link, you are supporting Beautiful Ingredient without paying extra!  Thank you for your support.

Vitamix 5300 Blender (Certified Refurbished), Black

Buy on Amazon

Shop the Props:

HEATHERED GRAY NAPKINS IN BARN RED, IN THE HANDMADE SHOP>>>