Editor’s Note: This post is brought to you by House of Harper contributor Erin O’Leary Stewart.  As the Co-owner of DEFINE body & mind and Director of DEFINE foods, Erin is an expert on health and wellness. She earned her culinary degree from New York City’s Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts and focuses on using natural, seasonal ingredients aimed towards healing in order to live a balanced and grounded lifestyle.  We are always searching for the perfect recipes for entertaining or just for the family, but it can be hard to find things that are delicious and healthy.  For that reason, we knew Erin would be the perfect partner to help us up our cooking game while staying health conscious along the way.  We hope you love learning from her as much as we do! You can follow Erin and DEFINE Foods on Instagram for more healthy recipes. 

DEFINE foods Clean & Green Smoothie 

Yield: 2

Ingredients:

1 cup Coconut Water (or other fruit juice)

1 cup chopped organic kale or spinach

1/2 cup chopped cucumber

½ cup chopped celery

3 Tbsp hemp hearts

1 cup frozen fruit (bananas, berries or pineapple)

1 Tbsp almond butter (optional)

Directions:

*Pro Tip: To save time in the mornings, make several prepackage zip lock baggies of the ingredients for each day of the week so all you have to do is add your liquid and blend when you wake up!

Blend all ingredients on high until super smooth. You can add a bit more coconut water, if necessary to get it going. If you prefer it sweeter, add extra frozen banana. 

Coconut Water: A cooling food that helps nourish and soothe organs. Contains, potassium, magnesium, copper and antioxidants. 

Kale: Medicinal for the stomach and a healer for the immune system and the liver. 

Cucumber: A cooling food that is nurturing to the bladder, spleen, large intestines and lungs and helps resolve toxins. Made up of more than 90% water, cucumber clears heat, quenches thirst, cleanses and purifies. 

Celery: Valued as a hangover cure, cucumber helps to settle an inflamed liver, acts as a nerve tonic and blood cleanser. 

Hemp seeds: A superior source of essential fatty acids, including omega-3s, hemp seeds have about 20 percent of a highly digestible protein with an essentially complete amino acid profile and have anti-inflammatory properties.

Banana: Highly nutritive, easily digested and soothing, banana helps to disperse toxins and excess heat. High in potassium, vitamin B6 and C. 

Almond butter: Almonds restore, tone and nurture, support the digestive tract and nervous system. They are the only nut that helps to beneficially alkalinize an overly acidic body pH. 

*Photos by Kate Robinson Photography