Green smoothies are a great way to inject extra protein, minerals and vitamins into your diet.

Whipping up a green smoothie as you run out the door first thing in the morning is something most of us are all too familiar with. Especially when they can cost an arm and a leg to buy from the health food stores…

But sometimes it can get a bit boring drinking the same old smoothie day after day.

Sure, you want to get all of the nutrition your body needs but you need to make sure you keep enjoing the taste of your smoothies, otherwise you end up hating them and can sometimes switch to less healthy morning drinks…

Thats why we’ve come up with a list of the 5 best greens to include in your next smoothie.

Just so you can mix it up and keep it interesting…

#1 Swiss Chard

Swiss chard is a great alternative to other green leafy veggies like spinache. It has a similar flavour but has slightly softer leaves which make it great for blending into a smoothie when your in a hurry. It’s actually from the same family as spinache and beets and has a slight salty flavour that works perfectly to cut the sweetness of any fruit you add to your smoothie giving it a well balanced flavour.

Swiss chard is a fantastic source of vitamins A, C and K as well as magnesium, potassium and iron. It also comes in a variety of colours including red, yellow, white and orange so you can get really creative with the colours of your smoothie.

#2 Dandelion Greens

Probably not as common in smoothies as kale or spinache, dandelion greens are a great alternative, especially if you are looking for a detox smoothie.

Dandelions are used to cleanse the liver and help with kidney function. They can be picked in the wild but you want to make sure you’re careful where you get them as you wouldn’t want them from where your neighbor walks his dog for obvious reasons…

If you don’t want to pick your own they are sold at certain health foods stores as well as farmers markets.

Dandelion greens do have a very bitter taste so in order to mask that you should add strong flavoured fruits such as pineapple, orange or ripe berries or even a scoop of your favourite protein powder.

#3 Kale

Kale seems to have exploded onto the health food market scene and it’s not surprising as it contains a multitude of vitamins and minerals. Making a smoothie with kale can be hard to get right as the leaves can tend to be quite tough and sometimes don’t blend to well. We recommend chopping the leaves up before adding them to the blender to avoid getting a chunky consistency.

Kale has quite a bland flavour so is a fantastic option when it comes to bulking up your smoothie.

#4 Lettuce

A lot of people get so caught up in the latest health food craze they often forget the staples. Lettuce is a fantastic option to add to your green smoothie. Everyone always has a head of lettuce sitting in the crisper and all too often it gets overlooked.

Because lettuce has such a mild flavour it’s a fantastic option for smoothies as you can flavour it with your favourite fruits without sacrificing all the beneficial minerals and vitamins lettuce contains. Apart from that lettuce is a very inexpensive option so is great to fill in the gaps before payday…

#5 Bok Choy

Bok choy is an Asian green that works excellent with smoothies. Usually seen in Asian stir frys, bok choy is right up there with Kale as far as nutrition goes and the mild flavour is easily masked with your favourite fruits or protein powders. Baby bok choy is also a fantastic option as it blends really easily.

If you want some help getting added vitamins and minerals into your diet you can get your free greens boost here when you join our rewards program free.

If you have a certain green smoothie recipe you find works well please let us know in the comments so our readers can give it a try!