Green Drinks

Ten Green Drinks for St. Patrick’s Day

by Jane Lake

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with ten easy recipes for tasty, refreshing – and non-alcoholic – beverages that are all proudly wearin’ the Green.

Dr. Oz Green Drink Recipe
This is the original version of the high-fiber, low-calorie breakfast drink that Dr. Oz introduced on Oprah. For an updated twist, see Dr Oz’s Green Drink.
2 apples, cored
2 big handfuls of spinach
1/2 cup of chopped parsley
1 celery stick, chopped
1 thumbnail length of ginger root, peeled
juice of one lemon
1 medium cucumber
optional: raw carrot, unsweetened fruit juice, banana, more cucumber

Place ingredients in a blender, add 4 oz. spring water or a handful of ice cubes, then puree quickly for one minute. Makes two glasses.

[one-half-first]Chocolate Mint Milk Shake
4 cups chocolate mint ice cream
1/4 cup milk
1 drop peppermint extract
mint sprig
Optional: 1/4 cup chocolate syrup
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend to combine. Add a drop of two of green food coloring, if desired. Garnish with whipped cream and a sprig of mint.

Green Lemonade

So simple – just make your favourite lemonade, or limeade, and add a drop or two of green food coloring. Top with a sprig of fresh mint, or a slice of lime or kiwi fruit.

St. Patrick’s Day Limeade

Serve this refreshing limeade over ice and garnish each glass with a slice of fresh lime, or double the recipe and serve in a punch bowl with slices of limes floating on top.

4 limes, plus another lime for slicing
3/4 cup white sugar
about 8 cups of cold water
optional: drop or two of food coloring

Extract as much juice from the four limes as you can, then pour the juice into an 8 cup (or 2 quart) jug. Stir in 3/4 cup of sugar.

If using, add one or two drops of liquid food coloring.

Fill up the 8-cup jug with cold water, and keep stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. Chill, or serve immediately over ice.

Easy Green Punch

1 pkg. of lemon-lime Kool-aid
7 cups of chilled orange juice
7 cups chilled pineapple juice

Mix Kool-aid according to package directions. Add orange juice and pineapple juice. You may stir in a little white sugar if you want a sweeter punch.

If desired, float lemon and lime slices on top of punch.

Mojito Mocktail

2 teaspoons sugar
6 mint sprigs
juice of three limes (or substitute 3 tablespoons of lime or lemon juice)
1/2 cup club soda or tonic water

Set two mint sprigs aside for garnish. Remove the rest of the mint leaves from their stems, and place in a mortar bowl with the sugar. Gently muddle the sugar with the mint using a pestle. Add crushed ice to two tall glasses.

Divide mint and sugar mixture between the glasses; top with soda or tonic water. Stir well to dissolve sugar.

Serve with a tall straw and garnish each glass with a slice of lime and one small mint sprig.

[/one-half-first][one-half]Lime Margarita

Prepare these margaritas right before serving for a refreshing, sophisticated non-alcoholic cocktail.

2 or 3 tablespoons coarse or kosher salt
4 lime wedges
1 can frozen limeade concentrate, slightly thawed
1/4 cup orange juice
4 cups ice cubes

Blend limeade concentrate, orange juice and ice cubes in a blender until the ice cubes are crushed.
Place the salt in a small shallow dish. Rub the rim of a margarita glass with one of the lime wedges. Dip the glass in the salt and set aside. Repeat with three more glasses. Pour the blended lime margarita mix into the glasses and garnish each glass with a lime wedge.

Matcha Green Tea Smoothie

Matcha Green Tea Powder; available at Amazon or local Asian food markets. It contains nearly 10 times the polyphenols and antioxidants of regular teas and about 9 times the beta-carotene of carrots. Try it in Green Tea Lattes or in this delicious smoothie concoction which can be amended with your preference of milks.

1 teaspoon matcha green tea powder
1 cup skim milk (or substitute 1 cup of almond milk or soy milk)
1 small banana or 1/2 large banana
1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
optional: a few ice cubes

Combine all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.
Variation: Use two teaspoons of matcha powder instead of one, and add 1/2 cup plain Greek yoghurt to the other ingredients.

St. Patrick’s Party Punch

1 3-oz. pkg. lime jello
2 cups pineapple juice – chilled
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
2 liter bottle of lemon-lime carbonated pop – chilled
4 cups frozen lemon sherbert, slightly thawed
Make a light syrup by bringing water and sugar to a boil; simmer and stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add jello, stirring until the jello granules are dissolved. Stir in chilled pineapple juice and set aside until room temperature. Before serving, transfer to a punch bowl, then add the lemon-lime pop and sherbet.

Mint Chocolate Soda

You might want to offer a straw and a spoon with this thick, yet fizzy combination of ice cream and soda pop.

2 cups chocolate mint ice cream
2 cups cream soda or carbonated water
¼ cup chocolate syrup

Put 1 tsp of chocolate syrup into each of four tall glasses or glass sundae dishes. Top with 1/2 cup of mint-chocolate ice cream per glass. Drizzle 2 more teaspoons of chocolate syrup over the ice cream. Carefully pour 1/2 cup of carbonated water or cream soda into each glass. The soda will fizz, deliciously combining the chocolate and mint flavours. Serve immediately.
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