Strawberry Broccoli Smoothie

I feel like this one should be prefaced with the fact that many health conscious people preach the "good news" about green smoothies. To me, throwing in vegetables ruins a perfectly good smoothie, but I wanted to see for myself. For someone who hates veggies, this is a good way to sneak some in my diet. So when I didn't have time to make lunch one day and needed something quick and filling to hold me over, I gave it a try- my first green smoothie!

1/2 cup frozen broccoli
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup orange juice
3 ice cubes

Dump the ingredients in the Vitamix. Select Variable 1 and increase speed to 7. Blend for 20 seconds, pushing down ingredients with the tamper. Then blend on High for 10 seconds.

Taste score: 5/10

Likes: I think the 2:1 fruit to broccoli ratio is just right. This tasted like a regular strawberry-orange smoothie, without the pulp or seeds. I will definitely sneak some veggies in my fruit smoothies again, just maybe not this one.


Dislikes: If I said I couldn't taste the broccoli I would be lying. But it's not so bitter when blended with the sweetness of the fruit, and tasted more like a hint of green instead of a mouthful. Next time I'll add different types of fruit so it settles better in my stomach.


Nutrition score: 7/10
I used fresh squeezed orange juice (not from concentrate) but it contains a lot of sugar. Apart from that, I also used frozen broccoli which doesn't have as much nutritional value as fresh veggies. But broccoli is anti-carcinogenic and can prevent all sorts of cancers.