Green Juices & Smoothies

by Fern Green

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

Source: Netgalley

Note: I may edit my star rating after trying some of the recipes. Unfortunately, I didn't have all the necessary ingredients for even a single recipe on-hand (for the smoothies; I don't own a juicer at all for the juices).

Initial Thoughts:

I like smoothies, so the idea of this book really appealed to me. However, it's actually sparse. It opens with a brief explanation of why one would want to detox (which, frankly, sounds like pseudo-science), a plan for detoxing, and an overview of what health benefits certain greens have there.

From there, it was just recipes with what were basically "tags" indicated whether they were good for energy, skin, heart health, etc. The recipes themselves were often vague, suggesting one add a "handful of blueberries," a "small amount of basil," or "a small bunch of red grapes." While I admit the art of smoothie making is often inexact (I myself will just dump berries in the blender until it looks like a good amount), I expect more specificity from a recipe book. While a "handful" is relatively self-explanatory, a "small amount" of something is not.

Some of the recipes are so simple to be inexplicable. I'd rather just eat an orange, a banana, and a spice separately than bother blending them up. However, others look more interesting. As I said, I didn't have all the ingredients on hand to try one immediately however. This is not necessarily because the ingredients are odd (though some will require a trip to a specialty health food shop), but because I just don't happen to have three mangoes or a couple of papayas in my refrigerator most of the time.