Get On The Green Smoothie Bandwagon! Part Two

Last Tasty Tuesday, I shared with you how I began the Great Green Smoothie Experiment. I told you what I found to be the tastiest greens in a smoothie, and which ones my body didn’t particularly like. (Note: Just because Swiss chard and collard greens don’t set well in my system, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try them. Every body is unique; those greens may be “just what the doctor ordered” for your nutritional needs. )

Some time later in my green smoothie journey, I began to wonder if there wasn’t a more economical way to get the nutrition of greens into my family’s diet. Thus began the Great Sprout Smoothie Experiment. I went crazy and bought eleven pounds each–yes, you read that correctly–of broccoli, kale, and cabbage sprouting seeds. Soon, my kitchen counter was covered with jars of various sprouts in various stages of growth. And each jar of sprouts cost no more than thirty cents.

I was feeling richer already.

When the first batch of broccoli sprouts were ready, I enthusiastically put the entire jarful into the next morning’s smoothie. Except for replacing mature greens with the sprouts, I used the same formula: nuts, water, bananas and dates. When everything was blended thoroughly (which doesn’t take long with a Vita-Mix), I poured the mixture into two jars, picked up one of them, and tasted the new, cheaper smoothie.

And grimaced. The only word I’ve been able to come up with to describe the flavor is “spicy.” I added some agave nectar to my husband’s jar, and choked down the mine over a period of about an hour. Not too much later, I developed some serious gastrointestinal discomfort and burped for probably a half hour straight.

Neither the kale sprouts nor the cabbage sprouts tasted any better. And each time, they gave me gas. After a few days of this, I had to face the truth: if I wanted green smoothies that tasted good and didn’t bother my digestive system, I would have to use the expensive mature organic greens.

Around that time, I started questioning the wisdom of eating only raw plant food. (When you sign up for “The Crunchy Coach News” in the box up in the right corner of this page, you’ll get a free report that explains a bit more about my raw food vegan experience.) I also began questioning whether consuming two pounds of greens daily was really necessary.

We continued drinking the smoothies for breakfast, but I would put only a small amount of sprouts in, and then whatever quantity of other greens that I felt would give us an ample amount of nutrition and fiber without compromising the smoothie’s flavor. When I quit the Raw Vegan experiment, I  replaced the nuts with raw egg yolks and flaxseed, and later on, replaced the flaxseed with raw milk kefir.

I’ll admit, smoothies with kefir is an acquired taste, unless you put in extra bananas. And not everyone has access to raw milk (this article explains why pasteurized milk is best avoided). For those reasons, only one of the following recipes includes kefir. The other recipes are ones that everyone can enjoy. Bear in mind that the water can always be replaced with coconut water, which will add a sweet creaminess as well as more nutrition to your smoothie.

Here they are, The Crunchy Coach’s favorite green smoothie recipes (they all serve one or two people):

Peach Delight

• 2 ripe peaches
• Half of a large banana
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup cashews (optional)
• Large handful of spinach

Blend all ingredients.

Chocolate Lover’s Ecstasy

• 1/4 cup raw chocolate or cacao nibs
• 2 bananas
• 3 dates, presoaked in 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup cashews or macadamia nuts (optional)
• Large handful of spinach

Blend all ingredients, including the water used to soak the dates. If it’s not sweet enough for your taste, mix in some raw honey, or blend in another 1/2 banana.

Berry Delicious

• 2 cups your choice berries
• 1 banana, OR 3 dates
• 1 cup raw milk kefir
• 2 yolks from either Organic Valley brand eggs or farm-fresh eggs (optional)

Blend all together. You can easily tame the sourness of the kefir by blending in more dates or another banana, or stirring in some raw honey or agave nectar.

Kale smoothie

• 4 large kale leaves
• 1/4 cup cashews (optional)
• 2 bananas
• 1 cup water

Blend all together.

Grape and Apple Green Smoothie

• 1 cup grapes (the color doesn’t matter–just be sure they’re sweet)
• 1 medium sweet apple
• 5-6 leaves of leaf lettuce, or 3-4 romaine leaves
• 1/2 cup water

Blend all together.

If you’re new to green smoothies, try some of these recipes, then create your own. Add more nuts, or different kinds. Or use farm fresh raw egg yolks in place of the nuts.

Invent a “berry chocolate” recipe. Experiment with organic yogurt, which is less sour than kefir. The possibilities are endless.

If you’re a green smoothie veteran, by all means, share your favorites below! If my readers are like me, they’re always looking for exciting ways to present healthy foods.

To your health!

(Oh, and, by the way, I have a few pounds of broccoli, kale and cabbage sprouting seeds for sale…)

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Tagged as: benefits of green smoothies, green smoothies, green smoothy