The healthiest drink in the world?
Lemonade stands will never be the same.
I don’t think I ever sold lemonade as a kid. I ran a cookie stand and a hot chocolate stand, and my friend and I once sold flowers we picked from her mom’s garden. (Not a good idea; nobody bought flowers, and her mom yelled at us for ruining the flower beds.)
Sorry to say, I missed out on selling lemonade. But I didn’t miss out on drinking it: my favorite was when lemonade tasted really sour, not the super-sweet pink stuff my sister loved because it was her favorite color. I always wished they’d made blue lemonade.
With its vibrant green hue, this crazy-healthy recipe comes close:
The best part about blender recipes is that, unlike with baked goods, you can keep adding ingredients if you’re not happy with the initial result. I kept playing with this recipe, tasting along the way, and suddenly the flavors just popped. It’s surprisingly delicious!
Green Lemonade
(no added sugar)
Recipe inspired by my drink at Peacefood Cafe
- 1 to 2 very large apples (200-400g)
- 1 to 2 cups kale (or another green, or omit) (40g)
- 1 to 2 stalks celery, broken into a few pieces, and bottoms cut off (80g)
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 3/4 cup water
- optional: a small piece of fresh ginger (or more, for a spicier juice)
Core the apples (no need to take off the skin), and combine all ingredients in a super-high-powered blender like a Vita-Mix. Blend until completely pulverized. I like it thick, so I never bother with this next step: Unless you prefer a ton of pulp like I do, you should pour the blended mixture through the finest strainer you own. Discard pulp or use for a different recipe. (Google “juice pulp recipes” if you need ideas.) Use one apple for a more tart drink and two apples for a sweeter drink.
View Green Lemonade Nutrition Facts
Question of the Day:
Did you ever sell lemonade as a kid?
Sadly I don’t see very many kids selling lemonade anymore. Now they’re always out there selling Kool Aid… for $5 a glass!
Link of the Day:
It’s also green, thanks to a secret healthy ingredient. No, not spinach or avocado!
Our celery is actually pretty bad here…..can I sub something or just omit it?
Sorry, haven’t tried.
Looks interesting! I’m a little confused though, why would 1 apple make it more tart and two make it less so? Is it the lemon juice being diluted?
Might be worth a shot though for an end of summer drink!
It’ll be sweeter, because the apple is what gives the juice its sweetness. 🙂
I’m definitely trying this recipe out. I LOVE super sour lemonade!!
I love how you didn’t peel the apples! It’s such a shame that most recipes require that the apple peel–the healthiest part–be removed! I wonder if this could work in a regular blender . . . maybe if I steam the apples and celery first?
I think I’m a weirdo — I actually can’t stand lemonade (even the pink kind)! That and Sour Patch Kids… I can’t understand the fascination. Just the thought of it is making the sides of my mouth tingle, lol. I love lemons with seafood, but even lemon juice in my water is blech. For years I would only eat the meringue part of lemon meringue pie, too… fortunately my uncle loved the lemon part, so we’d swap. 🙂
This juice/lemonade looks so pretty, but I doubt my wimpy blender could handle apples. :/ It kind of reminds of the Naked brand Green Machine smoothies, though… those are obviously thicker, but I think they have apples too and they’re so yummy!
This is kind of terrifying looking! It looks like it should be at a halloween party. I will definitely be trying it though. I used to have lemonade and cookie stands as a kid and made BANK. Except my standards of what a lot of money was were very different then, so it’s relative. I think it was probably in the range of $15-20? For many hours of work. Probably not worth the pay off.
Hi again, Katie! Once my kids had a stand, though they always want to, but it’s not what people are looking for, so I avoid it! Anyway, lemonade at our house is ice water and juice of a lemon, so not too fun for neighbors — no sugar! But they smiled and were happy with their sales! Still, I bet then they went home and made some Country Time! Your drink is similar to Dr Oz’s green drink that I make a lot, but it comes out more like a smoothie — http://fresh-you.blogspot.com/2011/10/dr-ozs-tangy-green-drink.html . I bet my kids would go for your green lemonade more than they go for our green drink since it’s thinner!
Ok, there was another thing your green lemonade reminded me of! Chia Fresca! http://fresh-you.blogspot.com/2012/05/chia-seeds-energy-food-of-aztecs.html (here’s a link with some awesome benefits of chia!) Do you ever have chia? Love it! You could add some to your green lemonade to add some MORE nutrition to your already super-nutritious drink! Since you’re a runner too, I bet you would love the book Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Ever Seen by Christopher McGougall !! Have you read it?
I’ve never been much for lemonade, even as a kid, although I do love lemons! The color of this drink is just beautiful! Normally green might turn me off, but here it looks so quenching.
This looks fantastic! I love fresh squeezed lemonade, and can’t stand the fake stuff. But apples are a great way to get sweetness and nutrition! Tonight, I think I’m going to go pick a couple of apples from the apple tree!
First off, I love your food photography; it’s so pretty! (I need background designs and a pricey camera…)
I never sold lemonade as a kid but I recently noticed two little sisters selling lemonade around their neighborhood – it was adorable. =)
Also, this recipe reminds me a lot of the delicious juice made in the documentary “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.” It’s such a great and inspiring film. Have you watched it?
Take care! <3
I haven’t! I will have to look it up :).
I saw the nutritional facts and kind of confused how it can be so low. One medium apple alone is about 75 calories so how can it be that this is only 65 calories?
It makes more than one serving.
This looks delicious! I absolutely LOVE kale. I’m excited to give this a try! Green is such a pretty color too…and it just looks healthy 🙂 I sold lemonade all the time when I was little. Now I have this promise to myself that whenever I see a lemonade stand I HAVE to stop…I know how exciting it is to get a customer!
Kids in our neighborhood sell lemonade all the time. I’m sure it’s *fake* lemonade, but lemonade nonetheless.
I must get a juicer! I’ve been jonesing to by one all summer for drinks just like this.
Katie, this is amazing! Thank you for such a wondermous recipe!
On a side note, the foam on your images is beautiful! That’s always my favorite part of a juice/smoothie.. the super foamy cap on top! 🙂