how much green in a smoothie?

[nmb]

Ok, so I made my first green smoothie tonight - (almost) 1 apple, 1 banana, & 1 collard-green leaf. And it tasted awful... I drank it, don't want to waste it, but I'm sure I couldn't continue.... too much green? Is it worthwhile for less than 1 leaf? :confused:

[Stina]

Aww, you took me back to my early days of green smoothie experimentation! I now can't believe that first I'd juice apples through the Champion and use that instead of water as the base. I'd make up my green smoothie and add in agave to sweeten it further!

I can't believe how much my taste buds have changed. Now I like them a lot less sweet and much more watery.

My typical smoothie is perhaps three large leaves of kale, one mango, and two to three bananas. Mangoes are so rich and sweet in a smoothie and I feel like the greens ride real well with the banana.

I vote you're off to a great start. You're doing the right thing with just small pieces of greens in there. Keep experimenting 'til you find the combinations that work for you, but be sure to keep rotating greens. Spinach/kale/parsley/cilantro/collards/chard are all easily found by the average consumer.

You'll be amazed at how malleable your taste buds will be as you continue. And it's so worth it.

[EZ rider]

For a good tasting green try romaine lettuce or celery or baby spinach (available already washed in the packaged salad area).

[nmb]

=) Always good to have an excuse to 'look back' huh? I saw the "fave green smoothies" post after posting this, so I'm saving some of those to try (although I'm trying to keep it simple at this point... ):D

[walnutty]

Try adding berries! :) I just started making green smoothies a week ago and I am already up to 2 whole collard green leaves and 2 cups of spinach per smoothie. I also add to that 1 1/2 cups pure water, 2 T. agave and the 1/2 cup each of frozen blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries. I DO NOT know that the greens are there! I cannot taste them and I cannot see them. I have very, very low energy due to fibromyalgia, but after consuming one of these green smoothies, I can go for about 2 - 2 1/2 hours cleaning, running errands, etc. It's a MIRACLE!!!

Good luck! ~walnutty

[fjernsyn]

Yep, my GS journey started something like that. I now love them, but only certain ones, and I'm not a hardcore pound-of-kale-and-an-apple kind of girl just yet. I have so far never liked an apple in a green smoothie, unless it is just a small one and there are 4-5 other fruits in there. Spinach is an almost tasteless green and a great starter. I have never liked any GS with celery - it's quite a powerful taste. I do like them with kale or romaine. Both give a certain earthy flavor to the GS but I've learned to love it. I always use a banana, in addition to about 1 1/2 cups berries or cherries. I like mine cold and thin, about the consistency of an Odwalla Superfood, if you know what that's like. And I have to drink them through a straw. I'd say the one thing other than time that has helped most with my falling for green smoothies is the addition of a food scale. Usually these are used for controlling portion sizes and counting calories but that is not my intention. Instead, I weigh my greens and berries with it so I know that I will always like what I am drinking. It's so easy and turns out so good.

Here is how I make my current favorite GS:

-Fill blender with 1 1/2 cups cold filtered water
-Put 1 peeled banana (room temperature) into blender
-Put blender on food scale, zero it out, and add 4 oz. romaine lettuce (this is usually about 5 leaves. Eventually I'd like to work up to more but even more I'd like to enjoy my food, and besides, my body is going to absorb a lot more nutrients from 4 ounces of blended lettuce than it would from 4 ounces of chewed lettuce.)
-Zero scale out again, add 8 ounces frozen pitted cherries or cherry/berry mix.
-Measure out 1/2 tbsp whole flax seed, add to blender
-Sometimes a little vanilla
-Blend away!

[Dj 247]

Making great, or should I say drinkable, green smoothies is an art. I finally got use to spinich and romaine, but kale is a very strong tasting green that is rather thick in smoothies. I bought a big bunch of it for smoothies this week and I am having to choke them down a bit. I also do not want to waste any produce. I don't think I will use kale again, or atleast anytime soon! But the thing about smoothies is that other people might love kale smoothies. :eek:

[portiz]

I stick to the baby spinach, romaine lettuce, and/or sprouts. I've also heard of needing to "de-vien" the leaves to remove some of the bitterness...maybe that would help with the taste?

[Biff]

When using Kale, Chard, or Collards -- remember to only use the leaf part, and do not use the stem/middle part of the leaf. The stems/middle are very bitter, and your smoothies will taste much better without them. Separate the leaf part from the stem starting at the bottom all the way to the top of the leaf.

Hope this helps anybody who didn't know this and is having trouble with bitter greens.

[EastCoastie]

I find that chard is my very favorite for g/s's, although we do rotate our greens like Victoria Boutenko says you should. In general we use at least one fairly packed cup of greens in ours; mine tend to be more the texture of juice, whereas my husband's are full-on frozen smoothie.

Good luck. Green smoothies are such an easy way to get some great nutrition.

[Dj 247]

When using Kale, Chard, or Collards -- remember to only use the leaf part, and do not use the stem/middle part of the leaf. The stems/middle are very bitter, and your smoothies will taste much better without them. Separate the leaf part from the stem starting at the bottom all the way to the top of the leaf.

Hope this helps anybody who didn't know this and is having trouble with bitter greens.

My blender and I both thank you for this information!

[rawmorenmore]

Pear, grated fresh ginger(cause it was frozen)
pinneapple, avocado, hemp protein, hemp oil, ground flax seed and coconut water.

[viva diva]

well then....the reason mine are so gross is cos dumb arse here *raises hand* is putting as much greens as fruit. weight for weight. it si onyl day one of raw for me so its baby steps right? yuck!!! the greens one would do you in that way!!! thnak you for info xx
what is agave i hear talk of? xx:D

[baltochef]

Greetings!

I made my first green smoothie this morning with the following:

1 1/2 cups filtered water
4 standard size ice cubes (made w/ same filtered water)
1 large banana
1 small apple
small handful of frisee
10 stems of cilantro
20 stems of parsley
3 leaves of red swiss chard (each leaf had about 1-2 in. of stem left on it)
3 TBSP raw agave syrup

This made a bright green smoothie of about 32 oz. volume with a distinct parsley/chlorophyll taste..

I'm sure that it was good for me, but I didn't particularly care for the strong taste..

At least for the time being I'll have to follow some of the suggestions mentioned in this thread..

What are the "rules" for food combining as regards green smoothies??

Thanks for all the help!!

Bruce

[Veganforlife]

ACK!!!

::smacks forehead::

I feel ya'lls pain - or um is that the pain from me just smacking myself???

My first green smoothie? Was like green glue, swamp muck, thick, toe oozing "stuff" that Shrek would've loved just waddling in. I didn't know to use water - duh me and I'm thinking "Oh good gawd! Folks are drinking this crap? You gotta be kidding me!" Until I posted that here and some kind soul told me to add water or some kind of liquid. OH...boy did that make a difference!

My advice to folks just starting out with GS's? Make your favorite fruit smoothie and add SOME greens, MILD greens like spinach or romaine or green or red leafy lettuce to it. Not the bitter kales, collards, chard, etc. Make it something you are going to want to drink. Something that tastes good. Haven't we all had our share of diet things that taste crap? For me those days are over.

As far as food combining with smoothies - there are no "rules".
My rule? Read Victoria Boutenko's book "Green for Life". Tells all about the benefits of GS's and has some good, good recipes. Another excellent book is Revvell's "Smoothies and Smoozies". Yum-Oh recipes there too. You can access it through:
www.revvellations.com
I do believe...

Just mix things you think will taste good together. Strong fruits like pineapple take away that green taste, which I don't even taste anymore.

Play with your food - that's a revvellationism.

[baltochef]

Thanks Lucy!!

I'll check out those books

Bruce

[River Mom]

There are no rules but I do know when you are just starting you need a place to jump in at so here where I started: I've made LOTS of other combos in the last 2 months,

1 apple
1 frozen banana
large hand full of greens

maybe just a bit of water just if I cant get it to mix.

That really still is the base for all the smoothies we make here. A big chunk of pineapple Core and all is what we added to this last night. The greens were from our garden, we love swiss char.
RM

[nmb]

When using Kale, Chard, or Collards -- remember to only use the leaf part, and do not use the stem/middle part of the leaf. The stems/middle are very bitter, and your smoothies will taste much better without them. Separate the leaf part from the stem starting at the bottom all the way to the top of the leaf.

Hope this helps anybody who didn't know this and is having trouble with bitter greens.

Thank you so much!! MUCH better now!:D

[Veganforlife]

Thanks Lucy!!

I'll check out those books

Bruce

Hey Bruce, where are you a chef? I'm assuming you are? And whereabouts in Balto do you live or work?

I'm from up north - Harford County...

[luckitri]

I have an ancient juicer and a cheapo blender (that often can't even break down the skin on fruits - which helps me to "chew" my smoothies) so I do alot of greens in the juicer and put juice in blender with fruit.

Pear and romaine and parsley have been on sale alot lately so I have been using them as well as spinach. There is a store near me that has non-organic kale, collards and turnips for 50 cents all the time and I do put the stems in my smoothies after making salad out of the kale. Personally I find swiss chard to be mild and sweet - somewhat like spinach. (I like to put turnip greens in my salads to spice them up.)

I buy bananas for the family and they often don't eat them so I save them from being tossed and put them in my smoothies although I don't really care for them.

After reading what others have written here I realize that I use alot more greens to my smoothies than these folks do.

[baltochef]

Veganforlife

I am currently not working..

I am trying to decide whether or not I wish to continue working as a SAD chef..

I would really like to apprentice myself in the old-fashioned way to a top notch raw chef that would be willing to try to teach an old dog some new tricks!!

Although the satisfaction of cooking for others can be great, I have many fundamental issues with how the entire industry is run..

The stunning amounts of food that goes to waste sometimes makes me sick to my stomach..

The low wages from the bottom to the top, including the near universal lack of health insurance & benefits, considering the number of years needed to learn one's craft is another core issue with me..

I live in Baltimore City just south of the city-county line near York Road..

Thanks for asking,

Bruce