the green monster
Friday 03.30.12 i saved up my american express rewards points and treated us to a fancy pants blender (it's called vitamix and i think it'll go up against any blender on the market and win, no matter what the middle of the night infomercials tell you). it's AMAZING!!! i'm accustomed to blenders that barely blend, get stuck every few seconds and never turn out a truly chunk-free smoothie.
my first venture into pro smoothie making was a lazy-girls version of this one. so good! i know green smoothies are even more healthy and hugely popular right now, so yesterday i added a couple leaves of dino kale and....YUCK! ACK! UGH! i know ya'll aren't drinking this nastiness, so please do tell....what are your green smoothie secrets? please, fill me in! wishing you a weekend with lots of yumminess & good sleep (and only delicious smoothies). xo
green smoothie, vitamix blender in Food 
Reader Comments (32)
i've found that it's important to add lemon juice to green drinks. also, keep it salty, celery, romaine, kale, spinach, fennel, beets, carrots, apple, cucumber + lemon. overall i'm not big on mixing sweet and creamy with greens.
Sorry it tasted so bad! But they can really be good. Here is a version I love by Joy The Baker... http://www.savorhomeblog.com/2012/01/kale-spinach-pear-smoothie.html
I sometimes use fuji apples instead of pears. I also might add a strawberry or two for some extra sweetness. Don't give up just yet! And I have got to get that blender...
my boyrfriend and i are new to this as well and our first mixture was AWFUL! i'm pretty sure we added too many ingredients. a few weeks in and i think we've finally got it right. our trick to lose the gross taste has been using ginger, cucumbers, beets, apples or pears. i read that the juice/smoothie should always be a ratio of 2:3 of fruit to vegetables for maximum health benefits so that's good to keep in mind. good luck =)
this is my fave!
I always mix an apple and a bit of lemon (sometimes a bit of ginger) into my kale, but I use a juicer. The apple adds the perfect subtle sweetness to mask the kale, and a little lemon is delish. Careful on the ginger, a lot goes a long way lol.
thanks so much everyone! i've always only juiced green veggies, never blended, but it didn't occur to me that i would use the same tcombination (in large part because i'm used to a blender that could barely tackle a frozen banana, let alone a beet!). excited to try your suggestions, will let you know how it goes!
You definitely need to add fruit into that! I'm guessing adding the leaves into Bri's version made it feel thick and fibrous and not in a good way. If you have other fruits, they'll bulk it up too and you won't notice as much.
I have a vitamix as well and they're amazeballs. Powerful enough to make your own peanut butter. They're the blenders jamba juice uses, so you know they mean business!
Lemon really is the answer! It adds that perfect bit of tang. This week, my go-to green juice is kiwi, spinach, and meyer lemon. SO delicious.
And please, more updates on the Vitamix! I've been trying to decide whether or not I want one... leaning closer to the yes side!