3 No-Chew Ways To Get Your Veggies
Let’s face it: chewing is overrated. And if you’re a texture person like I am, many veggies give you the heebie-jeebies. But veggies clean out your gut and pores, so we have to find a way to get them into our diets. The solution? Use your blender or food processor to break down those texture-heavy veggies.
Adding an ingredient to cut the bite is a great trick for veggie-haters. The recipes below use fruit, vinegar, and almonds to give balance and lighten up the dark leafy greens, tomatoes, and broccoli.
These are three of my all-time favorite no-chew, veggie-heavy recipes that I make on a regular basis:
Adapted from celebrity nutritionist Kimberly Snyder’s popular "Glowing Green Smoothie," which has a celebrity cult following (Drew Barrymore, Owen Wilson), this is the first green drink I’ve found that doesn’t taste like grass. Seriously. The banana, apple, and pear give it just enough sweetness to make the detoxifying kale and parsley palatable, and I love how using my blender instead of a juicer retains the fiber in the vegetables. I drink this in the morning a couple of times a week, but especially after a night out or a splurge to prevent breakouts.
| Servings |
| 2 16 oz. servings |
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| | Adapted from celebrity nutritionist Kimberly Snyder’s popular "Glowing Green Smoothie," which has a celebrity cult following (Drew Barrymore, Owen Wilson), this is the first green drink I’ve found that doesn’t taste like grass. Seriously. The banana, apple, and pear give it just enough sweetness to make the detoxifying kale and parsley palatable, and I love how using my blender instead of a juicer retains the fiber in the vegetables. I drink this in the morning a couple of times a week, but especially after a night out or a splurge to prevent breakouts.
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Ingredients
- 1 pre-washed organic romaine heart end removed
- 6 cups pre-washed organic kale
- 1/3 cup filtered water
- 2 cups organic curly or flat-leaf parsley washed
- 3 organic celery sticks stalks removed and roughly chopped
- 1 frozen or fresh banana
- 1 cup frozen or fresh organic green apple cored and roughly chopped
- 1 cup frozen or fresh organic pear cored and roughly chopped
- 1 lemon juice
Servings: 16 oz. servings
Instructions
- Put romaine, kale, and water in a blender and puree (may have to use attachment to push leaves down into the blade).
- Add parsley, celery, banana, apple, pear, and lemon juice. Add ice if using fresh banana, apple, and pear.
- Blend on high until pureed. Pour over ice if not cold enough for your liking.
Recipe Notes
Sip 16 oz in place of breakfast. Makes enough for 1 leftover that lasts a day in the fridge.
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If you didn’t read the gazpacho mishap confession from "My Clean Eating For Clear Skin Journey," you may not know my sordid history with this tomato-based cold soup. Since then, I’ve developed the BEST gazpacho recipe on the planet (adapted from Cook’s Illustrated) and I’m sharing it with you. Personally, I like soups with bits of things in them so my recipe calls for some of the ingredients to be stirred in after blending. Because this soup uses the food processor instead of an oven, it’s the perfect dish for a warm summer afternoon when it’s hot outside and fresh tomatoes and cucumbers are in season.
| Servings |
| 8 12 oz. servings |
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| | If you didn’t read the gazpacho mishap confession from "My Clean Eating For Clear Skin Journey," you may not know my sordid history with this tomato-based cold soup. Since then, I’ve developed the BEST gazpacho recipe on the planet (adapted from Cook’s Illustrated) and I’m sharing it with you. Personally, I like soups with bits of things in them so my recipe calls for some of the ingredients to be stirred in after blending. Because this soup uses the food processor instead of an oven, it’s the perfect dish for a warm summer afternoon when it’s hot outside and fresh tomatoes and cucumbers are in season.
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Ingredients
- 4 cups organic tomatoes cored and chopped
- 2 organic red bell peppers cored, seeded, and roughly chopped
- 2 organic cucumbers peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup sweet onion (such as Vidalia) roughly chopped
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 2 tsp Celtic or Himalayan sea salt
- 1/3 cup sherry vinegar
- 5 cups organic tomato juice with sea salt (not “salt”)
- 1 tsp Tabasco’s Chipolte hot pepper sauce
- 1/3 cup cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil basil flavored or unflavored
Servings: 12 oz. servings
Instructions
- Process tomatoes, red bell peppers, cucumbers, onion, garlic, salt, and vinegar in food processor for twelve 1-second pulses. Pour into a big bowl.
- Add tomato juice, hot pepper sauce, and ice cubes. Refrigerate for 4 hours.
- When ready to eat, remove any remaining ice cubes and ladle into chilled bowls.
Recipe Notes
If you feel like a little texture, top with chopped cucumber, red bell pepper, avocadoes, and an extra drizzle of evoo. Keeps in fridge up to 2 days.
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Adapted from Austin-based JuiceBox’s popular smoothie, this is a terrific way to eat broccoli if you’re not a fan of the cooked kind (like me). Bananas and almond butter give it body, coconut water gives it sweetness, and hemp protein makes it a meal in a cup. I make it in the morning but it keeps in the fridge until the afternoon for a pre-workout meal.
| Servings |
| 1 18 oz. |
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| | Adapted from Austin-based JuiceBox’s popular smoothie, this is a terrific way to eat broccoli if you’re not a fan of the cooked kind (like me). Bananas and almond butter give it body, coconut water gives it sweetness, and hemp protein makes it a meal in a cup. I make it in the morning but it keeps in the fridge until the afternoon for a pre-workout meal.
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Ingredients
- 3 cups frozen organic broccoli
- 1/2 cup frozen organic kale
- 1 fresh or frozen banana
- 1/4 cup almond butter (or almonds) preferably sprouted
- 1/4 cup hemp protein powder
- 11 oz. coconut water
Servings: 18 oz.
Instructions
- Add broccoli, kale, banana, almonds or almond butter, hemp protein and coconut water to blender. Blend on high until pureed.
Recipe Notes
Keeps in refrigerator 8 hours.
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With these three no-chew veggie recipes, you should be able to get healthy greens in your diet most days of the week.
Which one are you going to try first? Do you have any ideas of your own great ways to sneak veggies into your diet?
Share them in the comments below!
Alissa
Clean Eating for Clear Skin team
Photo and adapted recipe credit: Kimberly Snyder, One Hundred Eggs, Shugary Sweets
