VT Book Nook: The Healthy Green Drink Diet

Green drinks: just saying the words makes me feel healthier. Yet, every time I try to incorporate them into my diet, my success is sadly short-lived.

It usually shakes down like this: I fall truly, madly, and deeply in love with the idea of getting a daily mega-dose of nutrient-dense greens in a glass sans all the chopping and clean-up that real cooking usually requires. I load up on in-season greens at my local farmers’ market or Whole Foods. Then I pull out my VitaMix or the juicer I’ve had since college and spend the next few days downing green drinks until a moment of weakness hits like a tsunami and I opt for a Starbucks instead.

What is it that breaks my spell? I recall a handful of excuses over the years: waking up late, forgetting to fill the ice tray, not wanting to wake houseguests with the blender. But, in all honesty, I think the real reason why my stints with green juicing were never long-lasting is actually quite simple: my combinations never tasted very good.

Enter:

The Healthy Green Drink Diet

. These 50 winning combos invite just the right flavors to the party. (Check out the recipe for A Grape Pear, below.) The book’s author, Jason Manheim, takes a less ostracizing stance against a standard outcast of the green drink cult: fruit. “There’s nothing wrong with a little fruit in your diet,” says Manheim.My taste buds couldn’t agree more.

–Jolia Sidona Allen, VT online managing editor

A Grape Pear

1 cup green grapes
1 pear
1 cup kale
1 orange, peeled
1 banana, optional
water or ice

Fill blender with as much water or ice as you like and add kale. Blend until smooth. Add fruit. Pulse blend until desired consistency.

Recipe courtesy of

The Healthy Green Drink Diet

, Skyhorse Publishing.