The Smoothie of Mixed Feelings....

The Fruit and Vegetable Smoothie

as seen as part of a detox diet from Whole Living Magazine

I'll start off by saying this smoothie is the most glorious color I have ever seen. I had really high expectations for this smoothie because the ingredients are so packed full of flavor I couldn't imagine it being anything but a flavor explosion in my mouth! But alas this was not to be so.

Last night I steamed the beets and carrots (as seen below in all of their glorious jewel like colors), in preparation for making the smoothie this morning before work. I am not a morning person therefore I do not give myself enough time to get ready in the morning as is without having to chop and steam veg in the morn, so when I make smoothies or pack a lunch everything must be done the night before.
I got up 15 minutes earlier this morning so I could assemble and drink this before my normal morning ritual begins. I eagerly grabbed all of my pre-chopped fruits and veg and dumped them into the blender.
I pulsed that baby and watched as the ingredients combined together to the most beautiful raspberry, magenta color- this was exciting!! This is where I also became a bit wary.... "hmmm, I thought, "doesn't this look a bit thin and watery?" I poured a wee bit into a little juice glass and had my first taste. BORING! I mean just bland! I felt like I was drinking flavored water. So I added a banana, cuz you know, bananas can sweeten and thicken up any smoothie. So the below result is the smoothie after the addition of the banana.

My final thoughts? Well the addition of the banana helped but it was still too watery and still not packed with flavor. It wasn't the worst thing I'd ever had but also wasn't delicious. So what I'm thinking is this- this was included in a detox diet regime so I'm thinking that this isn't supposed to taste spectacular its just meant to fulfill the detox or nutritional side of that regime. After talking to some girls at my work about it we came to this conclusion- half the amount of water. I think the water just diluted the flavors of the fruit and veg and also made it the consistency that of amped up water. I would try this again but I would tweak it. So not an absolute failure but not a big thumbs up either.

Here's the original recipe:

1 small beet, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 med. carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 sweet apple, cored and coarsely chopped

1 ripe pear, cored and coarsely chopped

2 cups water

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp. ginger

1. Steam beets and carrots until tender, about 10 minutes. Let cool

2. Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth.