Any good green smoothie recipes?

[hillview]

So now that I have the world's most expensive blender ... I need some great recipes for green smoothies so I can work on eating better. Got any great ones?
TIA!
/hillary

[wellyes]

I've been doing a mix of 60% fruit, 40% greens plus water and sometimes flax seed (remember to keep your flax seed in the fridge). I occasionally use coconut water - they sell half gallon cartons at Whole Foods. I do not add dairy.

I typically buy the pre-washed bags of greens and use frozen fruit so that I can go from "hey I want a smoothie" to sipping one in less than five minutes.

Favorite greens:
spinach
green kale, red kale
collard greens
any variety of salad greens

Favorite fruits:
banana
frozen mango
frozen pineapple
frozen peach
frozen cherries
blueberries (makes blue-color smoothies every time)
apple (but this can make it a little frothy)
strawberries (but can be seedy if you don't blend very thoroughly)
avocado (makes it creamy but does take away from the sweetness)
lemon or orange for a bright flavor punch

I got a few recipe books from the library but honestly, I think improvising is the way to go until you're really into it. When you are ready to expand from regular old supermarket greens to dandelion greens and parsley, that's when recipes become useful.

For books, 'Green Smoothie Revolution' was the best, I think, even if the author is a little nutty. There's also a bunch of green smoothie videos on YouTube that are worth checking out.

[nrp]

I don't usually follow a recipe, just a generous handfulnof spinach or kale, usually a banana, whatever fruit we have in the house, some ice if I'm not using frozen fruit, and often some yogurt or milk. I usually put in a few drops of liquid stevia, or you could use honey. I sometimes will throw a few baby carrots in, too, and some flaxseed or chia. It's anything goes around here and about the only reliable way to get greens in my DCs!

[lovebebes]

my favorite-its simple but i love it. I have tried more complicated green smoothies that my friend makes and ended up liking mine more

Oh, and I like everything fresh..I know there is nothing wrong with frozen but I love the idea of fresh fruit, so I try to take advantage of the seasons when fruit is readily available at a good $ and then in the winter Ill use frozen peaches for example, over fresh.

a good handful of fresh spinach (i do like to buy it by the bunch, not prepacked from say Trader Joes...I really can tell the difference. There is something in washing off the dirt off the spinach roots for me, I can feel its freshness, crunchy in my hands...yes, im crazy)

a few leaves of kale

two bananas previously frozen. the reason its great to freeze them is because they make your smoothie be nice and cool instead of a warm mush. you can even cut them first and then freeze in a ziplock.

an orange

one of either peach or plum or nectarine ( i find this really just makes the smoothie more yummy!)

spirulina. must have spirulina. I throw in a couple of table spoons. it is SO good for you.

I also like to throw in some goji berries in my smoothie, but I don't do it every time. Same with flax seed.

My smoothie energizes me in a way I cannot describe. Right now at 8 month of pregnancy I have days where I just cannot move. I make myself a green smoothie and its like the most amazing healthy pick me up ever and I can feel my energy levels rise immediately.

[alexsmommy]

I'm a little stunned I can participate but I'm finally in a routine of making one the weekdays.
I've been doing the TJ's frozen mixed berriers (I save the fresh fromt the farmers market for us to eat all week), strawberry kefir, flax seed oil, generous handful of spinach or kale and honey. Sometimes I will add some protein powder or if I happen to have pineapple juice I'll use that instead of honey. I'm not a big fan of bananas so unless DH is sharing the batch with me, I rarely use any. Even if he asks for some, I tend to only use a half one.

ETA Lovbebes, does the spirulina have a strong taste? I was planning on adding that as my next "good for me" add in.

[lovebebes]

I'm a little stunned I can participate but I'm finally in a routine of making one the weekdays.
I've been doing the TJ's frozen mixed berriers (I save the fresh fromt the farmers market for us to eat all week), strawberry kefir, flax seed oil, generous handful of spinach or kale and honey. Sometimes I will add some protein powder or if I happen to have pineapple juice I'll use that instead of honey. I'm not a big fan of bananas so unless DH is sharing the batch with me, I rarely use any. Even if he asks for some, I tend to only use a half one.

ETA Lovbebes, does the spirulina have a strong taste? I was planning on adding that as my next "good for me" add in.

Hmm thats a good question-and hard for me to answer because I have never done a green smoothie without it, so I have nothing to compare to! Judging by the dark vibrant green of this powder I would imagine it has a strong taste, but when I mix it into my smoothie I still find my smoothie very tasty, and Im pretty sensitive to gross tasting healthy stuff :)

[wellyes]

Spirulina smells fishy but in a green smoothie doesn't have a dominant taste. It is crazy healthy. I have read that some spirulina formulations contain higher levels of mercury than I'd be comfortable with using frequently (comparable to eating salmon) so watch out for that.

[alexsmommy]

Spirulina smells fishy but in a green smoothie doesn't have a dominant taste. It is crazy healthy. I have read that some spirulina formulations contain higher levels of mercury than I'd be comfortable with using frequently (comparable to eating salmon) so watch out for that.

I can deal with a little fishy... do you have a brand you'd recommend?

[zoestargrove]

my routine smoothie is 2-3 large handfuls of spinach and an orange (or two if they are small). I love the taste and the color is a very pleasing bright green.

Sometimes I add fresh pineapple (or pineapple juice) to sweeten
ice (and a little water)

add ins - flax seed, chia seeds, carrots, or other fresh fruits.

Another favorite is
spinach - maybe 2 large handfuls
pineapple - about a cup chopped or a little more
fresh ginger root (about an inch, peeled) use more of less to fit your taste

I mostly improvise, but if I think the results need to be smoother, I'll add a half banana or a chunk of avocado and if the taste is rather dull - I'll add a squeeze of lemon or lime juice.

Using herbs like peppermint, basil or parsley are tasty additions

Dates are a great way to sweeten your smoothie without added sugar.

[lovebebes]

This is the spirulina I like:

http://livesuperfoods.com/spirulina-manna.html

As I understand it is better to have spirulina from lake as opposed to ocean (for mercury reducing purposes).

Another awesome add on you may want to check out is maca root. Google it :)

[Kymberley]

I just had to share this :D

I bought some spinach to start making myself green smoothies (thank you, again, BBB). I had to get DS some bananas, and I had some frozen fruit at the house that needed to be eaten. I used a giant handful of spinach, frozen strawberries, a banana, Keifer, and a splash of OJ, but I forgot to add the flax seed so I'll do that tomorrow. ANYWAY, DS saw my straw cup and came running over for a drink. He drank half of it! LOL!! I guess I'll have to make a bigger batch tomorrow!