Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Green Smoothies Here I Come!

People have been talking about green smoothies for a while now. I'm an open minded person, willing to give most things a try so I did not write off this phenomenon. Yes they sound strange and if you are a greens hater they might even sound revolting. Luckily I am not a greens hater. In fact, I think I've liked all the greens I've tried so far. After posting the Vegan's Hundred I knew it was time for me to take the green smoothie plunge.

Yesterday at the farmers market funds were a little low so I had to be very careful of my choices. Tomatoes are always irrisistable, local plums won't be around for much longer, with my final $3 I picked a bunch of beets. The greens looked pretty good so I could eat those too. Of course this morning the greens looked less than good but I cut them from the beet root, picked out the yuck ones and placed the rest in a clean sink of cold water. After about 1 hr they looked new, bright, beautiful. What an amazing transformation. Now was the time for my first green smoothie.

Into my blender jug I tossed:
1 ripe banana
1 lemon, rind cut away but the white pith left (I hear it has some good bits) cut into chunks to pick out the seeds.
2 dried dates, pitted
6 medium beet greens
1/2 cup frozen chopped mango
1/2 cup water

I started up the blender on low quickly turning the speed up to high and as I watched the mixture blend together I hoped for the best. Could this be good? Will I need to add something else to make this edible?


The answer, luckily, was no. This came out to taste slightly creamy and sweet from the banana and dates. A little lemonade like from the whole lemon with the added roundness of mango and just an ever so faint taste of greens. If I had added fewer greens you would probably not even know they were there except for the green color of the finished product. I did not mind the light green flavor though. It just added to the bright alive over all feeling of the smoothie. I will be doing this again.

6 comments:

Destiny's Kitchen said...

I feel like such a weenie for not trying green smoothies. Maybe if I drink it with my eyes closed the first time?

Bex said...

For me banana is a strong distinct flavor and citrus does an amazing masking job. I would say go for it and start with only a small amount of greens, using your favorite fruits. Add a little more greens each time. You'll be surprised how much you can add before you start to taste it.

Anonymous said...

I love green smoothies, but I haven't tried beet greens...need to get on that. I love them, but now the mornings are getting colder, so I am starting to crave warmer things...

Anonymous said...

I too have yet to make the leap and try green smoothies... They sound pretty good, but I'm afraid that my blender simply won't have the power to pulverise those greens. And what would be worse than stringy vegetable matter inside a smoothie? *shudder*

Em said...

i'm so glad you commented to because i hadn't come across your blog 'til right now and i was missing out! this smoothie looks so good. i love the odwalla green machine, but never even though of trying to make one on my own. props to you! can't wait until i have a blender again so i can try this out!

VEGAN TICKLES said...

Green smoothies are one of the easiest and most delicious smoothies ever.
They are so nitritious.