Tuesday 9 June 2015

'Clean & Green' from Parragon Books - Melon & Coconut Mojito Virgin Smootie *Recipe*

Today I'm bringing you some summery inspiration to brighten this rather yucky day - one minute its raining, and the next it's sunny - make up your mind will you please weather? I'm rather enjoying bare legs, flip flops and summer dresses, so if you could make the sunshine stick around that would be great, thanks. 

Clean & Green, which is currently available at The Works for just £3!!

Now then, I'll be honest, when Parragon sent me their latest book for review I wasn't overly excited - 'Clean & Green' is a book full of smoothie, juice and soup recipes - all with one thing in common - they're all green (meaning stuffed full of nutrient packed greens). Although I'm reasonably health-conscious, I've never actually gotten into juicing and smoothie making, it really isn't for me. A drink for me will never replace a good meal, I will always feel a bit cheated when I've had to drink my meal. For me, the only way to eat a soup is as a starter, with a large chunk of bread, so you can understand my reservations...

However, in true, 'I better give it a whirl' style, I had a read through the recipes and one in particular caught my eye - the melon & coconut mojito smoothie sounded interesting: I LOVE melon and coconut, they are two of my most favourite summery flavours, and I figured I could make this smoothie as a healthy extra to enjoy alongside my lunch on a particularly hot day last week. 

I will say this now - you will not enjoy this smoothie if you don't like things with a little texture - despite the name, this drink isn't smooth - the real coconut flesh in the drink means that you do get a slightly lumpy texture - you could get around this by using coconut milk instead of real coconut pieces, I may well try that next time, although I didn't mind the texture too much.

MELON & COCONUT MOJITO VIRGIN SMOOTHIE 

Ingredients

20g spinach
50g coconut flesh OR 100ml coconut milk 
200ml chilled water
100g melon
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
juice of ½ lime
50g mango, peeled and chopped
crushed ice

Method

I used my super-strong KitchenAid Food Processor to blend this smoothie - but you can use a smoothie maker or NutriBullet too. 

1. Put the spinach, coconut, water into your blender and blend until smooth.
2. Add the melon, mint, lime juice and mango, and blend until smooth and creamy. Pour over crushed ice and serve immediately garnished with fresh mint, mango slices, coconut slices...be creative! 

See, it's easy peasy right? 

The book says it serves 1, but I managed to get two fairly decent sized glasses out of it. 

The smoothie is around 133 calories per portion if you make it serve two. 

A rather pretty glass of a super-summery smoothie! 

About the Book

The book is arranged into five sections...

1. INTRODUCTION - an overview of why green is good for your health, some tips and tricks for juicing success and a list of what equipment to use in order to juice, make smoothies and soups.

2. GREEN TO CLEANSE - recipes such as a melon, pear and ginger spritzer, aloe refresher and a parsley purifier! 

3. GREEN TO GLOW - recipes such as a kiwi quencher, sprout tonic, mango & lime bone builder, and rocket-fuel soup!

4. GREEN TO DETOX - recipes such as a lettuce elixir, grape & lychee reviver, green tea punch and mint rejuvenator!

5. GREEN TO SOOTHE - recipes such as a cucumber soother, pineapple pump, minted melon squash, and a broccoli booster!

This is quite the collection - a kind of bible of green if you will. This book has enough super-healthy clean and green smoothie, juice and soup recipes to keep you happy for life! And for just £3 that's a bit of a bargain if you ask me! 

Whether you're already embracing juicing and smoothies, or whether you'd just like to give them a whirl - or get hidden goodness into your little ones in the form of a yummy 'special green milkshake'....this book would be a great buy! 

Happy juicing healthy people! 

Mrs B 

xxx

If you'd like to find out more information about books in the Parragon book ranges you can contact them via their social media platforms:

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Disclaimer: I received this product from the publisher for free. However, they have not paid me for this review, and they do not exercise any editorial control over my review or anything else on this site.