Hi all! Since venturing into raw I have mostly been eating fruits alone and then green salads. I want to start incorporating smoothies into the menu as I feel that I'm not getting enough greens (I tend to eat way more fruit!). I'm curious to see what kind of greens people are using and most importly, how much per smoothie? Thanks for any advice

Also, I'm looking for combinations that didn't work well for you in terms of taste or digestion.

I use kale, spinach, arugula, watercress, callaloo, parsley etc and usually one to two handfuls at a time. I have not had any problems with digestion.



My website: The Coconut Chronicles



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/2008 09:52PM by TheCoconutChronicles.

I like to use spinach, romaine, or kale as the green in a smoothie.
I make some fresh juice in my juicer and pour it along with some ice into my VM as a base.
Then turn on the VM and add through the top from 4 oz to 9 oz of greens and blend until its smooth.

i use spinach/kale/bok choy mostly, usually mixed with bananas or mangoes as a base. and then throw in all sorts of things from there.. parsley, cilantro, fresh ginger or turmeric, cucumbers,

i started with a 60/40 ratio of fruits to greens, which results in a sweet green smoothie that will be surprisingly tasty to even most SAD eaters willing to try one! but i think i am probably more like 40/60 these days. i make green smoothies that probably no one but myself would enjoy drinking, and i enjoy them thoroughly!

here's an interview with green smoothie ambassador Victoria Boutenko where she answers the most commonly asked questions about green smoothies. [archives.zinester.com] she has a bunch of you tube videos as well...

I am new into this too, but green smoothies were the first commitment I made in the transition into raw foods. I have tried several greens so far including spinach, kale, romaine, parsley, cilantro, beet greens, escarole, and a couple others I can't remember. By far, spinach is my favorite. I have found that, in general, the fewer ingredients I use, the more I like it. Right now, my absolute favorite morning smoothie goes like this:

One pear
2 cups of water
A few sprigs of fresh mint
Dash of vanilla
Spinach, however much it takes to end up with 1 quart of smoothie

I love this, it is only very slightly sweet, and the minty taste is perfect in the morning. Feels like I've used mouthwash without actually using it!

I like spinach, parsley, few dandelion greens sometimes, celery, carrots sometimes, and it's now up to around 2 handfuls of greens, with a whole banana, mango, and or berries fresh or frozen and either some water or juice. I also like to save the pulp from making juices (any kind) to add to my smoothies..makes a great addition. I also like to add some ground flaxseed powder most of the time. You could add a T of nut butter, coconut water, coconut oil, garlic even if you wanted to..so many combos for a person to try. I tend to stick with my favs now.

Love,
Prism

Thanks for your advice, everyone! I'm going grocery shopping tonight so that I can finally make some smoothie goodness...yum... Keep them coming if you have 'em!

I love my green smoothies!! I don't go a day without having one, usually for breakfast. I started slow in adding greens. I began with only a handful of greens to fruit ratio. Now I am way more heavy on the greens than the fruit. I will add an entire head of leaf lettuce or almost an entire bunch of kale or parsley to about 3 fruits.

Some of my personal favorites

1 Honey Dew Melon
1 bunch of Parsley

3 Pears
1 bunch of Spinach or leaf lettuce and sometimes celery to the mixture and
1/2 lime, including the peel.

I have found I love lime added to almost all my smoothies. Makes me feel like I am on a tropical island enjoying the sun and surf and a margarita... Yum yum

At first I would follow green smoothie recipes, but now I experiment and just do taste tests along the way. If it doesn't taste just right I add something else. I do however attempt to not combine fruits improperly.


Living about 80% raw and loving it!!

Elayne Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I started slow in adding greens. I began with only
> a handful of greens to fruit ratio. Now I am way
> more heavy on the greens than the fruit. I will
> add an entire head of leaf lettuce or almost an
> entire bunch of kale or parsley to about 3 fruits.

Thats the way it went for me too. I started slow with a very small hand full of greens and did that for awhile and then I started wanting the greens in there and after that it just took off. Now its the best meal of my day

i couldn't drink my first two green smoothies...didn't like the taste. i tried some recipes i found on this site and that started me. now i enjoy at least one every day and i simply make them from whatever we have around. i do like spinach the most but i also use parsley, cilantro, romaine and others. i always put some fruit in...i like most berries, pear, apple, pineapple...almost anything works. the best part is putting in some seasoning like ginger, cinammon, vanilla and others. i recommend experimenting. i always taste them before i pour into a glass as sometimes i need a bit more of this and that. it's fun. good luck with it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/26/2008 02:07AM by lacombe.

I suspect that you can add a lot more iceberg lettuce to a smoothie than just about any other green and still have it taste good.

we tried rocket and it was disgusting. I wouldn't recommend it in a green smoothie

I posted this in another thread,but am going to post it here too because I am desperate. WHAT can I do with collard greens? Just juice them? Blend them in smoothies like kale?

you can use collard greens like a big tortilla and do wraps! if i had a nut pate recipe that i liked for more than 5 minutes, i would roll it up in a collard green, but alas i do not, so i just use avocados and shredded beets, carrots, sprouts, etc. and create some kind of fun dip.

but i also put them (usually the ones that have too many holes in them or are looking a little sad to do wraps) in green smoothies.

i once got this crazy green at the farmers market, it looked like all-green bok choi. i put it in my green smoothie and it tasted like a wasabi smoothie, no lie. it was freakin' hot! i kinda liked it...

I do this:

one small orange
1 head of red lettuce
2 to 3 leaves of kale
a few mint leaves

Hubby likes it straight, I add a bunch of water to my half and drink all through the day.

This morning i skipped the orange and it tasted great!


For variation we use spinach, cucumber and beet greens as well. Like many here, I started out with mostly banana, mango, blueberries and a few greens, now it's almost no fruit, all greens.

Great thread. I love my Vitamix!

I recommend Greens for Life by Boutenko. Its a very good book with recipes