Heading out to lunch this afternoon, my bike and I end up in the elevator with a coworker who’s also on his way out to lunch.
A: The elevator in my office building is the slowest one known to man.
B: At a towering 6 feet 8 inches, my coworker is the tallest man I know.
Both these facts add a couple extra grains of awkwardness to our forced elevator interaction.
Because he is polite, my coworker asks where I’m off to. I tell him I’m riding home to make a smoothie. He just stares back at me. Eventually he gives me the head nod and says, “Cool. Are you gonna put it on your bllllllllllog?” More politeness because what he really wanted to say was: Areyoufuckinginsane? Why would you bike home in the 90 degree Florida summer heat when there’s a Planet Smoothie right on the corner?
To which I simply replied, “Cause it’s a realllly good smoothie. And YES! It’s definitely going on the blog!”
As I pedal off, I realized that I am officially obsessed with this green smoothie. Why else would I be biking home in the 90 degree Florida summer heat for the third time this week?
I get on kicks. Right now I’m on a green smoothie kick setoff by my veggie cleanse last month and then reinforced by Katie’s green smoothie post a couple weeks ago.
I’ve been doing them with parsley, spinach, ginger root, apple and soy milk and 2 other fruits depending on what I have around (either peaches, strawberries, bananas, mango, blueberries). I leave all the edible skin on the fruits for the fiber and great texture.
The parsley and ginger make it SO refreshing and I like the idea of cramming all that raw spinach into a glass (keeps you full for a while). I think the ginger counteracts the vegetal flavor cause you mostly taste the fruit. I don’t know, there’s probably no way for me to make a spinach smoothie sound or look delicious (either you’re on board or you’re repulsed right now). Please trust me and try it! Even if you think you already know how it’ll taste, try it anyway!
Can you imagine my coworker’s reaction if I had told him it was a spinach smoothie I was riding home for? HA! Next time.
Recipe
Prep time: 3 minutes! Parsley and ginger help subdue the green vegetal flavor so I wouldn’t recommend leaving those out. I also think apple is a must, but experiment away with any other additional fruits.You need:
- 2 big handfuls of fresh, raw spinach
- 1/2 apple of choice
- A few parsley sprigs
- About 1/4 inch ginger root
- 1/2 cup soy milk
- 2-4 strawberries depending on size
- 1/2 a banana
- *optional* 1/2 a peach (some blue berries or mango are also good as a sub)
Directions
- Wash and cut fruit. Leave skin on apple and any other fruit with edible skin. Mince ginger. Add fruit and ginger to blender with spinach, parsley and soy milk. Blend a few seconds before adding ice cubes. Add ice cubes and blend until good consistency. Add a little extra water or soy milk if necessary.
36 Comments
We just got a new high speed blender and Ive been making green smoothies every day! They are so refreshing and after one sip I feel energized and full of living nutrients. One of my favorite combos is kale, banana, pineapple and mint. Yummy! I will have to try your recipe too. Thanks for the inspiration!
This look delicious and refreshing. I’m always afraid of parsley – that it will be too overwhelming. I will try it out this weekend.
And out of curiosity – what kind of veggie cleanse did you do? Would you mind emailing me about it if you have a moment?
Hi! I know what you mean about the parsley, but it’s not too much in the smoothie at all. Do try.
I didn’t do any specific kind of veggie cleanse…or follow any rules. I know there are a lot of charted out cleanses out there, but I just ate all fruits and veggies and a lot of juices and soups for a week. No refined sugars or grains either. No dairy. No meats. A lot of raw veggies too. Please email me with any questions – happy to help or trade stories!
OK! I’m making this tonight…however I have everything except soy milk..regular milk or oj?
well, if you’re not using any really acidic fruits (like pineapple or orange), I’d probably go for milk cause i like the creaminess! But, I’m SURE OJ would be good too (I’ve also done this with lemon juice and water instead of soy and it’s totally nice).
I’ve been sneaking spinach into my son’s daily smoothies for months now, and he’s never been the wiser. Actually, it enhances the flavors of the fruit in the smoothie if you ask me, giving it a more earthy, hearty flavor. I LOVE it! And so does he! He’s only 16 months old and he drinks it down like candy! And today I realized a bit late that I was out of spinach, so what did he get in his smoothie? KALE! YUM!
Slick move, mama!
Hi -I am exactly the same with green smoothies- absolutely obsessed and I can understand the riding home in the heat thing! I printed some gs info cards to give people who said What’s that? (usually in horror at the colour…and then again when I tell them what was in it eg greens!) I then started a gs blog dailygreenbar.blogspot.com
What sort of fruit skins do you use in your green smoothies? Jane
Oh wow, great inspiration for MORE green smoothies on your blog! I think the one with cereal looks delish…well, I guess it doesn’t necessarily “look” that delish but I i can imagine it us ;) thanks for sharing.
Fruit skins: I just don’t peel fruits with edible skins like apples, peaches, grapes, even kiwi is good. I love the texture it adds. You just have to be sure to wash really well and get all those stupid stickers off.
I am so with you on this! I had my first last summer and every once in awhile go on a green smoothie kick, especially once the weather heats up.
amazing! we just ordered a juicer and will start a cleanse in the next two weeks. after reading so many books~! i cant wait. love the smoothie post!
Awesome! Let me know how it goes. You must try the avocado, broc, arugula soup! Really filling…in a good way.
Yum! I’ve been curious about green smoothies for a while now, after reading about them on another blog I follow… I might give this recipe a try over the weekend.
So much yummy goodness! I can’t wait. Thanks for sharing.
This looks super yummy. I’m just getting into smoothies for me and my toddler so I will give this a try….just minus the soy milk(not a fan of it’s estrogenic qualities). I assume I can use anything else? Rice Milk? Goats Milks? Almond Milk?
oh yes, any of those would work fine. enjoy!
I love your website, I have to share this with my “fans” on Everything Mom and Baby’s Facebook page :)
I’ve done green smoothies before and just love them. The idea of adding ginger sounds nice, and I may have to try that out. With spinach being so inexpensive at the markets these days, it doesn’t take much to have enough on hand for a delicious glass.
Not that the bike ride isn’t also good for you, but have you thought of packing a ‘Magic Bullet’ in your work bag and whipping one up at the office? You know, in case it rains or something?
Don’t have the bullet, but I did actually consider bringing my immersion blender to work…maybe I should. Oh boy, I can just imagine the looks I’d get as everyone else comes in and out to zap their microwaveable pasta dishes!
Pfftttt…. come on, Gabrielle, you *pedal bikes and peddle smoothies. And yes, critiquing you is how I entertained myself after 48+ hours on my couch. Deal with it.
grrrrrrrrrr. Oh, Kathryn. What would I do without you?
mmmm, that looks so good
Looks awesome! I’ve taken to putting cucumber in my smoothies along with black cherries, but I will definitely stuff some spinach in there now.
THAT sounds awesome!
Definitely on board for this one. I want one right now.
Thank you for sharing! I have made some pretty foul green smoothie concoctions in the past, both from “let’s toss this in there!” and actual shared recipes. My husband won’t entertain one, and I usually just resort to sneaking in some supergreenfood powder.
What about collards? Too strong? I’ve got collards this week, no spinach :(
I’ve tried kale, but never collards. The kale is pretty good, but the texture is much tougher than spinach or broccoli and it doesn’t seem to incorporate as well. Collards might be similar?
Thanks for yet another amazing recipe – i am now completely obsessed!!
I’ve never found a green smoothie recipe I liked, but the ginger and peach made me want to give this a go. It’s AMAZING! Thank you so much!
p.s. I left out the ice and used frozen strawberries, banana, and peach instead. For liquid, I used vanilla soy milk. And as Gabi said, do NOT skip the ginger and parsley! I know it’s tempting, but they’re crucial for cutting that ‘green’ taste.
This inspires me! Now that Wren happily and heartily drinks from a straw and keeps stealing my smoothies, I’m going to start making them GREEN. Sounds lovely!
Love your Web site. Colorful; interesting angles for your photographs. Love how your voice comes through in your posts.
I just printed the green smoothie recipe and am making my shopping list.
AW, thanks Emmy! I think you’ll love this. Always nice to see you and thanks for your comment.
i have been a green smoothie addict for about 3 years now! i substitute banana and water for any type of milk. that way the smoothie remains vegan and phyto-estrogen free! but still creamy! p.s. ignore everyone’s comments about having watched too much “popeye the sailorman” when you were younger, they have no idea what they are missing! yummy!
thanks for this recipe! i’ve been loving a green smoothie recipe of my own lately. I’ve not tried ginger, but the honey I add to mine seems to take the green-y bite out of the spinach.
and i’ve not thought to try parsley—it will be next!
maybe elevator co-worker guy will read your blog, try the recipe and become a believer.
Parsley it up.
Ha – no such luck for elevator guy. He likes the leftover meatloaf his wife packs him for lunch way too much ;)