Drink your salad: my favorite green smoothie recipe
Written by Margaret Floyd on 23/02/11 am28 08:11 AM
6 Comments
Over the last few years, I have reluctantly become a smoothie girl. I’ve never liked them much, but that’s also because I was rather horrible at making them. Usually they were barely edible.
And then I got a VitaMix
And if you have a VitaMix, you know there’s no longer any good excuse NOT to become a master of smoothies. I’m not one to bow to a gadget, but this blender changed my life. (Based on my informal research, this is a statement commonly uttered by VitaMix owners). Yes, it’s a spendy blender, but it’s worth every penny.
But I digress. I have experimented, I have played with recipes, I have been taught by a smoothie pro, and I have now come up with my own variation on the green smoothie. If you don’t have a VitaMix, a very good high-powered blender will do, but I’d replace the whole nuts with nut-butter.
Ingredients:
- 1 head romaine lettuce, stem removed
- 1 big handful parsley
- 1/2 avocado
- handful of raw cashews, ideally soaked and dehydrated. (To learn why this is important – stay tuned. Post coming soon!)
- juice of 1 lime
- water and meat of one young green coconut (or, if you’re not able to find the coconut, 1-2 cups of coconut water will do)
- 1-2 tsp raw honey (can be omitted if you’re on a sugar-control program)
Combine all ingredients in your trusty VitaMix (or otherwise high-speed blender) and gradually bring up the speed from low to max. You’ll need to use the “wand” that comes with it to push the ingredients down into the blade. Mix thoroughly until nice and smooth.
This makes 2 servings.
I too was never a fan of smoothies until I explored some of the green smoothie blends, now I’m a huge fan. My current green blend fav is cucumber, kale, spinach, parsley, fresh basil and mint with pineapple….and now that I’ve read your endorsement of the Vita Mix, I will adding that my must have list, thank you!
If you love green smoothies, the VitaMix will become your best friend. It’s probably the best used piece of gear in our kitchen! Love your current green smoothie blend. Will try it!
Hey Margaret,
I have another smoothie I made up and LOVE.
organic apple juice to cover blender blades
1-2 handfuls of spinach
1 pear- (I like yellow or green pear vs red )
lots of cinnamon
YUMMY!
I am working on healing my adrenals. I need to eat frequently to keep maintain blood sugar levels. Are green smoothies OK for this or will it spike my blood sugar levels? Very confused about how to eat after watching Fork Over Knives and all of those other films saying animal products cause so many problems. However, the naturopath helping me with my adrenals says I should eat protein every time I eat, preferrably animal protein. But people like Elena at Veggalicious says her health was transformed dramatically when eliminating animal products.
Hi Valerie, This green smoothie won’t spike your blood sugar levels too much, especially if you omit the sweetener. Sadly the nutrition field is confusing and Forks over Knives only added to the confusion (and a lot of misinformation). I would encourage you to listen to your naturopath. In my experience personally (as a former vegetarian for 15 years) and in my practice, I see people thrive eating a responsible diet of nutrient dense whole foods that includes animal protein (from pastured, humanely raised animals – not feedlot fare) and lots of veggies and good fats, and struggle with all sorts of health issues when trying to eat a vegetarian diet that typically relies too heavily on grains and soy. Here are a couple of posts on the topic that might help you out: http://www.eatnakednow.com/eatnaked/2011/11/08/confessions-of-a-recovering-vegetarian-how-i-made-peace-with-eating-meat/; http://www.eatnakednow.com/eatnaked/2011/11/14/book-review-guest-post-the-vegetarian-myth/
Salad smoothie with mango dressing recipe
Tried this this morning, and loving it. I mix the juicer and blender to get to my final result.
Juice:
2 tomatoes
1 red pepper
2 carrots
2 celery sticks
Blend with:
2 cups mixed greens (spinach, baby bok choy, and chard)
Frozen diced mango
Yummm!
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