I know you’ve heard me go on and on about eating more fruits and veggies. You know that I LOVE talking about the power of green food.
I also know that you’re busy and that, sometimes, getting your healthy plant foods in ain’t always easy.
In fact, most of us aren’t getting enough fruits and veggies in our diets. Instead, we’re eating too much junk food and animal products and suffering the health consequences. Junky foods and excessive consumption of animal proteins can create acidity in our bodies and acidity can cause all sort of nasty side-effects like inflammation, illness, disease and premature aging.
Hey, don’t shoot the messenger! A fact’s a fact.
We need more plant love in our lives.
You probably already know this, but here’s a quick reminder: Besides the abundance of vitamins and minerals found in plants, eating more fruits and veggies also boost our bodies with:
- antioxidant protection
- phytonutrient power
- balanced pH levels (reduction in acidity)
- fibre for detoxification
And all of that can lead to improvements with our:
- bone health
- cardiovascular health
- weight management
- plus, reduced inflammation which helps us avoid many chronic diseases
Our bodies love plants.
But, since we’ve already established that most of us aren’t getting enough, this is why a good greens powder can come in handy to give you an extra boost in the right direction.
With a concentrated, dried greens powder made up of many different fruits and veggies (rather than an isolated vitamin or mineral supplement) you get a true whole food supplement, which means all the nutrients still work their synergistic magic like they’re meant to. Yay!
In the spirit of my inner fussy child, I created 3 unique and delicious ways to sneak more greens into your diet using Genuine Health’s greens+ ORIGINAL powder.
Let’s start off with these TO DIE FOR raw coconut and lime macaroons. OMG.
Making raw macaroons is ridiculously quick and easy.
Beyond the green goodness from over 2 dozen powerful fruits and vegetables in greens+, these babies are filled with healthy fats and lots of fibre so they make a great blood sugar stabilizing and energizing snack or delicious dessert.
Since the greens powder creates this beautiful green colour, I naturally thought of boosting the flavours with a hit of lime. Not only does this make “sense” colour-scheme-wise, but I just love the subtle, tangy zing that balances out the rich sweetness of coconut and chocolate.
You’re gonna love these!
- 2 ½ cups raw shredded coconut (reserve ½ cup for last pulsing)
- 3 tbsp raw honey or pure maple syrup
- 3 tbsp melted coconut oil
- 1 lime (juiced and zested for garnish)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅛ tsp sea salt
- 1 scoop greens+ original powder
- Topping
- ¼ cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 tsp shredded coconut
- 1 tbsp lime zest (see above)
- Add all ingredients to food processor with S blade and mix until well combined.
- After green coconut mixture is well combined, add reserved ½ cup shredded coconut and pulse until mixed, but still maintaining some texture.
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and using a small cookie scoop, scoop about 12 rounds onto paper (you can do this by forming into balls with your hands too).
- To melt chocolate chips, either use a double boiler or a heatproof dish that fits snugly onto a saucepan. Bring about 1 inch of water to a gentle boil in a saucepan. Meanwhile, add dark chocolate chips to your heatproof bowl (glass or ceramic). Place bowl of chocolate chips on top of saucepan with simmering water (the water should NOT touch the bottom of your heat-proof bowl). Gently stir until chocolate chips are melted. Remove bowl from heat before the last few bits have melted and reserve for drizzling.
- Once melted chocolate has cooled a bit, drizzle over macaroons and then top with additional shredded coconut and lime zest.
- Refrigerate about an hour until firm and cool.
- Store in an airtight container up to week!
Ok, onto the next creative concoction.
Feast your eyes on this gorgeous Zesty Pesto Hummus!
It’s basically like regular hummus made from chickpeas, but I used white, cannellini beans instead. There is no right or wrong when it comes to the beans you use to make hummus. It’s fun to use cannellini beans sometimes because they create an insanely creamy texture.
Beans are a great source of plant-based protein, they’re super high in fibre and just so easy and versatile in the kitchen. I used canned beans here, but you can used home-cooked beans of course (I talk about why beans are a staple food in my kitchen in my eBook Fresh Start Kitchen).
I love adding fresh herbs to my bean dips because they’re loaded with detoxifying vitamins and minerals, but are also so damn delicious. The subtle spiciness of the fresh basil really shines in this recipe. And, since basil is green, people won’t even notice you’ve snuck the greens powder in there!
This fancy little number is a superfood spread loaded with all your key macro and micronutrients and can be used as a dip for veggies, crackers or as your toast’s new best friend like I’ve done here.
It lasted about 3 minutes in my house.
- 1 ½ cups cooked cannellini beans (approx. 1 can, drained and rinsed).
- 1 cup fresh basil
- ¼ cup tahini
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 scoop greens+ original powder
- juice of 1 lemon
- Place all ingredients in food processor with S blade and blend until smooth and creamy (occasionally scraping sides if necessary).
- Garnish with drizzle of olive oil and fresh herbs if desired.
Aaaand, I just couldn’t resist something decadent and chocolatey for to prove that greens can even be part of the answer to your sweet cravings. This sinful-looking, dark freezer fudge actually has 2 SCOOPS of greens powder hidden up in there!
I know!
Impossible to see. Impossible to taste. But still full of green goodness.
This is kind of like a variation of my chocolate freezer bark, but just much heartier like “proper” fudge without dairy or refined sugar. This is like the fudge you never knew you always wanted with a healthy twist!
I even made another version with cacao nibs and marmalade on top in place of frozen berries…SO good!
- ½ cup raw cacao powder
- ½ cup nut or seed butter
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ¼ cup raw honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 2 scoops greens+ original powder
- Topping:
- ⅓ cup crushed frozen raspberries or freeze-dried berries
- 2 tbsp shredded coconut
- pinch of sea salt
- Add all ingredients into food processor with the S blade and blend until well combined. (It will be really thick and form a ball. That’s OK!)
- Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper and scoop thick chocolate fudge batter onto paper.
- Push down with fingers and hands as if kneading out pizza dough until evenly distributed.
- Use an oiled spatula to further smooth down if desired.
- Sprinkle on toppings and lightly press down so they stick onto the fudge a bit.
- Place in freezer 30 min - 1 hour before cutting into bite-sized squares.
- Best if stored in freezer, but will also keep its form in the fridge.
- NOTE: to make an alternate version with cacao nibs and jam, simply add 2 tbsp of cacao nibs into food processor whilst blending fudge batter and top with 2 tbsp of favourite jam.
I hope these recipes have sparked a green flame under your butt and inspired you to start thinking about how you can get more greens into your life. Of course, you can totally mix it with water and chug it back if that’s the way you like to roll. I like adding a scoop to my morning smoothies too.
Genuine Health is, literally, the OG of greens powders. They’ve been doing green powders for over 30 years and continue to come up with innovative formulas for a range of dietary needs, which I love.
Here’s a list of where you can get your hands on some in your area!
I’d love to know if you try any of these green-boosted goodies out. Make sure to post your healthy creations on instragram or facebook and tag me @kimdeoncom so I can see what you’ve been up to!
Go green or go home.
K
This is a sponsored post.
