There are millions of green smoothies recipes made daily, but this healthy Vegan perfect green smoothie is full of nutritious raw vegetables, including broccoli, and tastes super delicious after a yoga class or to celebrate Earth Day!
The second heatwave of this year brought the residents to the outdoors and we were excited to head to Mike’s beach yoga class to enjoy the sunshine and waves. The yoga bug finally bit us and with our new yoga mats in hand we greeted the day with thoughts of a perfect green smoothie as a reward after. Clear blue skies and the deeper blue Pacific Ocean laced with turquoise shimmers transformed Santa Barbara into a tropical island paradise.
After Yoga class we felt exhausted from the heat and headed to Blenders in the Grass, which has lots of good smoothies and we were eyeing the peanut butter chocolate (yum yum), but the line was out the door. The long line helped us to stay with the original plan and so we headed back to the kitchen to get a workout for our Vitamix as well.
A healthy green drink is better after good exercise to replenish and rehydrate you. Our Perfect Green Smoothie has all the ingredients for a post-yoga pick-me-up with fresh veggies (such as broccoli, celery, parsley, basil) and filtered water. The celery is a great for weight loss with its negative calories and diuretic effect that helps you flush out the toxins.
Our Perfect Green Smoothie is also the ideal drink to toast to Earth Day with. The official Earth Day is on April 22, but on the Central Coast the celebration was already in progress the last weekend. Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival was held at the Alameda Park and the electricity for the event came from biodiesel and the sun. Earth Day events brings a focus on environmental education and greening schools and businesses. It started in 1970 and was inspired by the devastating Santa Barbara oil spill of 1969. The Earth Day program brings much needed attention to environmental programs and is celebrated around the world.
Fruit smoothies with occasional carrots have been a big part of our diet while growing up and living in Europe. They were mostly made with frozen fruits in winter when there was limited fresh produce available. In Budapest, Salzburg or Frankfurt you just could not harvest fresh strawberries in February like here in Southern California. Of course in the summer there were plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables from the garden and market, and oh yes we made many with ice cream for refreshing dessert creations.
Since green smoothies became so popular and we of course whole heartedly jumped on the ever growing “Green Smoothie Bandwagon”, we were wondering how could we have survived without knowing the glorious taste of broccoli, celery, parsley, basil and banana together. The beauty about this refreshingly delicious, nourishingly healthy, gorgeous green vibrant colored satisfying drink is that you can cut, mix, blend and enjoy within minutes.
Keep in mind a few rules in your smoothie making technique so you will never end up with a green mess instead of a green goddess.
1. Know the strength of your blender
2. Cut hard veggies and fruits into smaller sizes
3. Layer first the hard and larger chunks then end with the liquids
4. Do not overstuff your blender container
5. Pulse on low first and then turn to high gear
6. Don’t forget to close the lid!
#6 is a joke in our family since Judit once forgot the middle portion of the lid and a strawberry margarita exploded over her brand new white kitchen cabinets. We love this perfect green smoothie recipe creation after a workout because it is just filled with raw vegetables and the banana adds the creaminess that you would usually get from peanut butter or protein powder. Corina was never really fond of broccoli, but with the added sweetness of banana finds it actually tasty in this smoothie. Our yoga poses might be far from perfect, but this smoothie is perfectly good for you.
The advantage of this Perfect Green Smoothie are the powerful green ingredients, each with large dose of nutrition and health benefits that will help get into beach body shape for the summer. This green smoothie is a true goddess in the health department, just make sure you don’t overindulge on raw broccoli on a daily basis. An excess of raw broccoli has been shown to cause negative health effects so remember everything in moderation or if you are a hard core broccoli lover you might want to steam it before adding it to your daily smoothie. We like to alternate our green smoothies with other vegetables and fruits so for Corina’s joy we don’t overdo it with the broccoli.
Perfect Green Smoothie Benefits
Rich in Antioxidants
Low Calories
Low Carb
Loaded with Essential Vitamins
Diabetic Friendly
Helps in Weight loss
Benefits of Broccoli
Low in calories and high in fiber
Broccoli is loaded with Vitamins A and C
Extremely beneficial for a diabetic diet
Contains antioxidants which help reduce the risk of cancer.
Benefits of Celery
Boosts immune system with Vitamin C
Known as the “Negative Calorie food”
Assists in Weight Loss
Can lower cholesterol and fight cancer
Benefits of Banana
Good source of Vitamin B 6 and C
Potassium helps replenish electrolytes
Contains fiber that can help with digestion
Can lower blood pressure and maintain low blood sugar
Benefits of Fresh Parsley
High in Vitamins K and C
Also contains Vitamin A and Folate
The antioxidants help against cell damage
Anti-inflammatory and protects agains arthritis
Beneficial for heart health
Benefits of Basil
Has anti-bacterial properties
Said to be anti-aging
Reduces inflammation
High in Vitamin K
Contains Iron, Potassium, and Manganese
Perfect Green Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups Broccoli Florets - chopped
- 1 1/2 cups Celery - roughly chopped
- 1 Banana - peeled
- 1/2 cup of Parsley - packed
- 1 handful of Basil Leaves
- 1 cup of Filtered Water
Instructions
- Layer chopped broccoli florets, celery, banana, parsley, basil leaves into a blender or Vitamix.
- Top with one cup of filtered water.
- Pulse blender a few times on low then blend on high until smooth.
Nutrition Facts: Servings 2, Serving size 1 glass:
Calories 91 • Fat 0.35 g • Saturated Fat 0.6 g • Carbs 22 g • Fiber 5 g •
Net Carbs 17 g • Sugars 9 g • Protein 3.6 g
Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian, Diabetic Friendly, , Paleo, Low-Carb, Gluten-Free
What is your favorite smoothie or post-workout drink?
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Wow!! Smoothie with broccoli and green vegetables. Looks interesting! will try it today.
I just started adding more veggies to my daily diet and this green smoothie does look perfectly green and healthy.
We love our smoothies almost all year around. And what a view for yoga and a yummy green smoothie. 😀
Love to practice yoga on the beach too! Really looks like you had a fun day 🙂 Green smoothie are definitely always on point if your trying to stay fit and healthy. Planning to make smoothie everyday for breakfast this summer, and will add this one on my list!
Perfect is right, I love how many healthy ingredients are in it 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Great setting with the waterfall, makes the green smoothie look like it’s on vacation and ever more so enticing. Love your other recipes too.
Never thought of putting broccoli in a smoothie – what a great idea. I have a Vitamix which will be perfect for this. Thanks!
Wow!! I love how green your smoothie is! Broccoli is a unique touch. It looks so refreshing and healthy. Perfect for this time of year. Thank you!
How lovely to have had 2 heatwaves already! You sure like to tease us with your beautiful weather!
This really does sound like a perfect smoothie, as well. It looks so refreshing, and I love the way you’ve photographed it out in the open!
Fabulous green and so good for you! Cute yoga poses too!
Lovely smoothie, girls! I wouldn’t have thought to use parsley. And for what it’s worth, I don’t think your yoga poses are too bad 🙂
Thank you for your kind words, Viviane! We did have a good workout with lots of giggles and the warm temperatures did make us thirsty. The parsley gave a nice fresh green note to this smoothie, almost like we would have added a little wheat grass 🙂
J+C
Love starting my morning with a healthy green smoothie! This one looks perfect! 🙂 Love the gorgeous pics too ladies! 🙂
Thank you so much Kelly! We love a good healthy smoothie in the morning and a richer fruit smoothie with peanut butter in the afternoon 🙂
I adore this green drink and you made it look so tropical and wonderful with that waterfall and beach photos. It is really a “Perfect Green Smoothie” and I am very curious to try it now.
Thank you Beverly, and hope you will try this simple but very refreshing and satisfying smoothie.
J+C
OMGosh, you girls just described the perfect day: “Clear blue skies and the deeper blue Pacific Ocean laced with turquoise shimmers transformed Santa Barbara into a tropical island paradise”. That, along with this smoothie is definitely the perfect day. Girls, I’m on my way over! xoxo
Just come on over Kristi, we would have a super perfect day together and even could double the smoothies.
xoxo
J+C
When the sun shines in Santa Barbara it’s a beautiful thing! Perfect time to feel healthy and alive. This smoothie surely helps. GREG
There are many days filled with sun shine in Santa Barbara, and we can’t have any excuses not to live healthy. But even on not so perfect day a smoothie always helps!
Healthy, full of benefits… What a great drink to start the day.
Love, love the shot from the waterfall behind the glass of smoothie. Pinned!
Thank you so much for the pin Denise! This green smoothie was really refreshing and creamy, and a little addictive so we did zip up a second one in the afternoon.
J+C
Absolutely the best green smoothie photo I have yet seen and it is for sure perfectly green! How fun it looks at the beach with you both. Can I come join you and do I get a green smoothie if I try the poses too?
Thank you Margot! This was one of the most vibrant green smoothie we have made. The Sunday yoga class is open to the public and the group seem to grow with each week. Every pose is smoothie worthy 🙂
You two definitely had some fun with beach yoga!! I had some green smoothie yesterday too, but with spinach, kale, and kiwi. Since I love broccoli, this is for sure a must make SOON.
The beach yoga was a lot of fun Angie! We are pretty new to yoga and even if it was not very pretty (our moves ) but for sure we got a good workout under the blue skies. The spinach, kale and kiwi smoothie sounds refreshing.
Particularly wonderful photo of the smoothie itself. Beautiful. I love the shade of green.
I am ‘into’ smoothies ever since I got a nutria bullet for Xmas. Fun!
Thank you Carol, we were amazed about the color too how the vibrant green seemed almost to glow in this smoothie! Have fun with your smoothies!
Happy Earth day Judith and Corina! What a great healthy and delicious smoothie to celebrate with. I got a smoothie contraption last summer and really enjoyed it. With spring (trying) come back I need to get back into the good habit. Not outdoor yoga yet but tomorrow is my class 😉
Thank you Evelyne and hope you had a lovely Earth day as well! Smoothies are truly addictive and with so many delicious combinations we all have many more to sample. Hope you had a great yoga class 🙂
Santa Barbara looks gorgeous and how lovely that Spring has definitely arrived and with it, perfect temperatures for getting down to the beach. I love the look of your smoothie. I recently bought a Nutribullet which has been good for getting me into really healthy smoothies. Need to try this one with broccoli xx
The Southern Coast did have exceptionally warm spring this year and we are so thankful to be able to do a little yoga on the beach. We are hooked on the smoothie train too so enjoy your Nutribullet.
J+C