I haven't gotten on the whole juice craze for a few reasons. Paying upwards of $10 seems a bit extreme for a drink, says the non-coffee drinker. Besides that, it's also good for your system to actually chew your food. If the digestive system gets too lazy, it'll stop working the way it was intended. That said, I do like a lot of the ingredients that can be juiced and when pressed (small pun intended) for time, it's a great way to get a jolt of healthy nutrients in one sitting. Given the amount of indulging going on around the holidays, I pulled the Vitamix out to keep my system on track.

I also wanted to make sure none of my enormous delivery from Cut 'N Clean Greens went to waste. Luckily you can freeze greens and pop 'em right into a smoothie or soup, without having to thaw them. So late to the game, I set out to make my first green smoothie.

Rainbow chard is a little more forgiving than other heartier greens that can be a bit more bitter and tougher to process - in your blender and in your stomach. It's vitamin-rich and full of minerals and antioxidants. To add a little sweetness I threw in a fresh honey crisp apple, along with some frozen mango, which seems to make everything better. I loaded up with fresh ginger because we are going into cold weather season and ginger is good for the immune system, as well as digestion to get us through those big heavy meals. Chia has you covered on calcium, fiber and Omega 3s to name a few. So yeah it's healthy, but better than that, it's really tasty and a lot less expensive to make than buy, so enjoy!

Rainbow Chard Ginger Fruit Smoothie

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1" fresh ginger, peeled
• 6 ounces rainbow chard
• 1 apple like honey crisp
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 1 cup frozen mango
• 3/4 cup filtered water

Instructions

1. Place ginger in a high speed blender and puree. Add the remaining ingredients and process until smooth.