This is about a close to posting a recipe as I’ll ever go…
Those who know me know I’m not a big fan of posting “Paleo” recipes. I talked about some of my reasons in this post. I do like posting some of the “unique” stuff that I do that isn’t necessarily well known in the Paleo community, though.
So, here’s my Tip of the Day – The Green Smoothie
As a blender drink, green smoothies have a lot of advantages. They’re pretty easy to make and you can pack a TON of raw greens into an easy to eat and easy to digest drink that can be made pretty palatable. And, true to my usual attitude toward diet, this isn’t a STRICTLY Paleo meal. It’s healthy and it ROCKS though! 🙂
Greens in the Blender – But Not Just ANY Blender
So far, the only two benders I know of that will REALLY liquify rough greens like Kale and Chard are Blendtech and VtiaMix. I have a Blendtec and have been pretty happy with it. They’re NOT cheap though! The main advantage to a “Green Smoothie” over a more common “Juice” is that you keep the fiber and all the other bulk and stuff IN the drink as opposed to throwing it all away when you make a green juice. A green smoothie is closer to real food and tastes a lot better as far as I’m concerned.
Lot’s of GREENS
Here’s about 8oz of raw Chard and Kale:
Here it is blended or “liquefied:”
RICE PROTEIN!?!?!?!?! WTF?
Yup, Rice Protein! Not Paleo (No Paleo Heaven for me!) but it works well for me. Here are the liquefied greens with 4 Scoops of Protein Powder, 2 TBSP Coconut Oil, and 1 TBSP Psyllium Husk Fiber.
Fruit? Ouch! My Pancreas!
Yup, Fruit. TWO kinds! Today it was organic pineapple and organic bananas.
There it is! A LOT of nutrition in an easy, drinkable and digestible package. If you’re interested in Green Smoothies there are two excellent books out there – both by VEGANS! YIKES! They are: “The Green Smoothies Diet” by Robyn Oppenshaw and “Green for Life” by Victoria Boutenko. Yup, that’s right, I just posted a cool diet tip I learned from the RAW VEGAN Community 😛
“Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.”
— Bruce Lee
And that’s it for today. Green Smoothies ROCK. Try them!
ttys
Adam
Adam, a little tip on blending greens into a shake. Freeze them first. Even better, blanch them and then freeze them. Try to blend fresh vs frozen spinach to see the difference.
Even a normal blender can do an ok job with frozen spinach.
Thanks, Roland! I like to keep my greens fresh and raw. They do seem to blend well in the Blendtec with a little practice. Frozen might be a good option to have on hand for emergencies though!
Thanks for the tip.
Adam
How many servings does that provide, and does it keep at all in the frig? Thanks!
Christine, for me that’s one serving. I have heard of people keeping them in the fridge, but they’ll turn brown really fast – especially with bananas. If you try to keep it, cover it tight and don’t go more than 12 hours or so..
Adam
Adam,
I have been doing green smoothies for about a yr now. LOVE THEM!! We read up alot about them and we find just the greens and fruits (about a 60/40 ratio of greens:fruits) packs in plenty of protein. Dandelion greens seem to be pretty high in protein. Interesting, though, to add. We have a Vitamix and use it for everything! Why do you think this is not so well known in the paleo community? I also find that most of my crossfit/paleo friends have no idea about green smoothies! We followed a raw diet for a while so this was just something wonderful to pack in all our greens without having to chew them all day
thanks for your site and for getting the greens out there 🙂
Annette,
I think the main reason the Paleo community isn’t more into green smoothies is that they’re a “Raw Vegan” invention for the most part. A lot of Paleo people aren’t into smoothies in general because of the need for “mechanical intervention” to make them. There’s a fear that they digest too fast, etc… But yeah, I LOVE the green smoothies and other smoothies!
Adam
Hi Adam,
I just started reading your ebook, it is awesome so far! If i did not want the rice protein, what could i use for protein in its place?
Thanks for buying the book, Allison!
You could try some other protein powder like Hemp (seeds) or Whey (Dairy) if you weren’t sensitive to either. Dairy is more likely to cause problems than hemp for you. Also, you can just drop in some raw pastured eggs if you’re not sensitive to them. I’ve even heard of people adding cooked eggs to smoothies but I usually do raw when I’m using eggs.
Currently, rice protein and meat are my only protein sources..
Adam