How to Make Green Smoothies
Simple, Fun, and Great for You
The hardest part is getting started.
The first thought on most people’s mind when they begin their green smoothie journey is… "yuck, it’s green! Greens taste horrible!" News flash… it’s not true! Okay… true, it is green but it does not taste horrible.
Some people love the full flavor of greens in their smoothies right off, but for those new to enjoying the flavor of greens, your journey will begin as a fruit smoothie with some greens added.
First, a blender…
There are a lot of blenders out there and while we will get into detail about them later lets just say there are 2 kinds, regular and high performance. Regular is what most kitchens have for occasionally mixing drinks. High performance are those blenders that are considered "heavy duty" with 2+ horsepower, designed for regular use for a variety of applications, like a Vitamix or a Blendtec, that green smoothie enthusiasts and raw foodists tout as an absolute necessity.
It is not necessary to have a high performance blender to make green smoothies, but as they become a staple in your life, you likely will consider purchasing one. Why a high performance blender then? Because it’s all about texture: a smoother green smoothie is better tasting, more nutritious, and more palatable.
For a smoother smoothie please see our » Green Smoothie Tips
What’s important is not how fancy your blender is but rather what you wear, or don’t wear, while making your green smoothie! Seriously, what is important is that you just be sure to make one.
Our recommended recipe for beginning your green smoothie adventure:
In your blender put:
– 2 ripe bananas (yellow, not green – they can be freshly frozen)
– 1/2 cup of another fruit (pineapple, blueberry, apple, peach, mango)
– 1 1/2 cup fresh greens (kale, chard, spinach)
– 1 pint/ 16 oz water (or to desired consistency)
optional (for added sweetness if necessary):
– 2 or more dates (not the Friday night kind, nor the "rabbit food" pellets… fresh dates with pit removed)
Blend until smooth. And enjoy! This will make about 32 ounces (1 liter) of smoothie.
The amount of time to blend will vary depending upon your blender performance. What is most important is that you do not warm up your smoothie by blending it too long. The reason not to warm your green smoothie is because you do not want to "harm" the nutrients and enzymes that will nourish your body and a warm smoothie doesn’t taste as good.
You will find that as you add more greens to your smoothie you will need a better performance out of your blender, as a standard/regular blender can not handle the drag of more greens and will eventually fail. You will be left with a chunky smoothie that isn’t as yummy and quite likely a very unhappy blender. This is why we recommend a Vitamix or a Blendtec which not only are fantastic green smoothie blenders but also have the capability to breakdown plant cell walls to make the abundance of nutrition more readily available to your body.
There are essentially limitless possibilities to the kinds of green smoothies you can make. Have fun! It would be great to start off by drinking a quart of green smoothie every day. Most people like them in the morning but they are great to drink a little bit at a time all day long. No need to stop at a quart a day, the more you drink green smoothies the better!