Drink Your Veggies

Dairy Free Gluten Free Health Paleo Raw Recipes Remedies Urban Farming

Drink Me 

Most people cringe when they imagine putting all this in a smoothie. I will say, it helps to have a high speed blender if you're going to blend vegetables. For years we drank a somewhat chunky green smoothie, which our kids especially found unpalatable, but we finally invested in a 3 horsepower Blendtec blender, which can blend anything to a smooth cream. Way worth the investment. However, if you're using a standard blender, just give your vegetables extra time in there before adding softer fruits. I personally don't think it's the end of the world if my smoothie has to be chewed a little, but I completely understand it's not for everyone. The flax seeds and ginger blend up quite nicely as well, though I don't think I would use them in a standard blender.

So yes, a high speed blender will make your vegetables into a smooth drink, but what about taste? I'm not going to drink something every day that tastes nasty and I don't think you would want to either. While carrots have a natural sweetness that goes down easy, the huge amount of greens I add to smoothies would be pretty bitter without some fruit. The sweetness of a couple of ripe bananas really helps, especially in a kale smoothie, which can have a very strong taste. Mango is another great one to blend with greens and other vegetables. Pineapple orange banana is a good combination with greens. When I want to make something really sweet, or if I find myself out of fresh fruit, I'll soak a few pitted dates in some water, then add the dates and their soak water to the smoothie.



Making the smoothie...

Add the following to a large blender, in approximately this order:

• 1 cm fresh ginger, sliced (leave the peel on if organic)
• Most of a "bunch" of chard or kale, or 2/3 bag of spinach, or 2-3 heads baby bok choy (remove tough stems from chard & kale, feed to bunnies & chickens or compost. Gently pack the greens in there, because they are why this smoothie exists.)
• 1 Tb whole flax seeds
• 1 stalk celery, cut into 2" lengths
• 1 carrot, cut into 1" lengths
• 2 bananas
• Add water to about 1/2 full (I fill the Blendtec to the 28 oz line, use more or less depending on your preference)
• I also add about a cup of homemade kombucha to each smoothie, but this is not necessary.

Blend on low to get started, then on high for 30 seconds in a high speed blender, or about a minute in a standard blender, until smooth.

Drink immediately, or within 24 hours for maximum flavor and nutrition



We enjoy this every day. Sometimes twice. I often take a quart jar of smoothie with me when I go someplace that I know I'll get hungry. There are a million recipes online for other varieties of green smoothies. I never really follow the recipes for them, but I love to see other ideas of things people have used and enjoy in their smoothies. I encourage you to try this recipe, and then branch out to other vegetable and fruit combinations. If you're squeamish about too many greens, try just adding two large leaves or a handful of baby spinach to a fruit smoothie at first. You'll see it's pretty innocuous; spinach especially blends up smooth and tasty. I think it's really delicious!

Interested in upgrading to a high speed blender? Your smoothies will be amazingly creamy. I don't go a day without using my Blendtec, often twice. Once you try a truly powerful blender, you will never go back! I'm posting the ad link below to my beloved Blendtec, as well as the other leading brand, Vitamix, for comparison. Please check it out if you're interested. Every purchase through my ad link helps provide us with a little bit of income.

Share the article to support the site!

Other Articles

Drink Your Veggies

4/ 5

Oleh Mellow

Mellow February 20, 2012 46 Comment