Question for Green Smoothie Lovers

[Anonymous]

I love my Vitamix. Today mixed spinach with half an apple and banana, some frozen pineapple and Almond milk. Delicious.

[Anonymous]

Tomatoes! I have a Vitamix and try to drink a veggie smoothie every day. I ALWAYS put tomatoes in and they give it a really nice flavor. I vary the greens, but also use any of the following: broccoli, red or yellow peppers (you could do green, I just prefer the other colors), a sliver of onion, half a clove of garlic, parsley, cilantro (really any herb), zucchini, cukes, celery, etc.

Carrots will also give it a sweetness as will beets. I don't really like fruit so I don't add any, but hubby likes to add apples, pears, or bananas.

I go to the farmers market every weekend and buy tons of veggies. It's a great way to start the day.

[Anonymous]

Vitamix FTW!!

[Anonymous]

Vitamix, but I usually don't like smoothies, so I strain it with a cheesecloth to make juice. It takes a few extra minutes, but I think easier to clean and less bacteria than a juicer (which I had previously).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tomatoes! I have a Vitamix and try to drink a veggie smoothie every day. I ALWAYS put tomatoes in and they give it a really nice flavor. I vary the greens, but also use any of the following: broccoli, red or yellow peppers (you could do green, I just prefer the other colors), a sliver of onion, half a clove of garlic, parsley, cilantro (really any herb), zucchini, cukes, celery, etc.

Carrots will also give it a sweetness as will beets. I don't really like fruit so I don't add any, but hubby likes to add apples, pears, or bananas.

I go to the farmers market every weekend and buy tons of veggies. It's a great way to start the day.

Is this like a gazpacho? Or, how much greens do you put in relative to the tomatoes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I use beets in every smoothie so mine aren't green at all but ridiculously good and healthy. I use apple or OJ, spinach or kale, a banana and a beet. I've lowered my blood pressure into a normal range after two years of it being high and lost 50 pounds.

I use a Vita-Mix so I can't comment on the the efficacy of other blenders except I know a few people that use Osters with success.

Tell me more about using beets - are they raw/cooked, peeled/whole? I love beets, but generally find them to be a PIA to deal with. While I would totally put beet greens in a smoothie, it never would have occurred to me to put the actual beet in it.

[Anonymous]

In Brazil (where I am from) people usually mix the greens with orange juice or pineapple juice.

So, orange juice with kale; orange juice with beets and carrots. Orange juice with all 3.

Spinach is also great.

They just blend it all together and drink it up - fibers and all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I use beets in every smoothie so mine aren't green at all but ridiculously good and healthy. I use apple or OJ, spinach or kale, a banana and a beet. I've lowered my blood pressure into a normal range after two years of it being high and lost 50 pounds.

I use a Vita-Mix so I can't comment on the the efficacy of other blenders except I know a few people that use Osters with success.

Tell me more about using beets - are they raw/cooked, peeled/whole? I love beets, but generally find them to be a PIA to deal with. While I would totally put beet greens in a smoothie, it never would have occurred to me to put the actual beet in it.

You put them in raw, not peeled. Just rinse, chop the ends off quarter it and toss it in. The greens are fine too but I don't use both because it would overwhelm it with beet flavor. I am a HUGE fan of beets because of everything they've done for my health, but I can only take so much! lol The OJ and banana combination really temper the flavor and makes it taste pretty good, but really any fruit/juice mixture works. I have a lot of people drinking them now and haven't had anyone dislike it enough not to drink them.

[Anonymous]

Kale with almond milk, a banana, and 2 dates plus handful of ice in Vitamix. MMM!

[Anonymous]

Vitamix users, help me out here. I'm not getting how much easier it could be than a regular blender. With my regular blender, I throw everything in and it's blended in 3 minutes. Washing it is a pain, yes, but takes about 5 minutes total (if I don't wait and do it right away). How much easier could a vitamix be? I'm just not understanding. In terms of the actual process itself, I doubt it's that much faster than a high power blender. And for the cleanup, why is it easier? Is it truly worth spending 3-4 x more than a regular blender?

[Anonymous]

VitaMix can also make soups, grind things, etc, etc. Many other things you can do...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tomatoes! I have a Vitamix and try to drink a veggie smoothie every day. I ALWAYS put tomatoes in and they give it a really nice flavor. I vary the greens, but also use any of the following: broccoli, red or yellow peppers (you could do green, I just prefer the other colors), a sliver of onion, half a clove of garlic, parsley, cilantro (really any herb), zucchini, cukes, celery, etc.

Carrots will also give it a sweetness as will beets. I don't really like fruit so I don't add any, but hubby likes to add apples, pears, or bananas.

I go to the farmers market every weekend and buy tons of veggies. It's a great way to start the day.

Is this like a gazpacho? Or, how much greens do you put in relative to the tomatoes?

PP here. Yes, sometimes I make a Gazpacho-like smoothie by leaving out the greens. Just tomato, peppers, celery, little onion, cucumber. I like to add a chili too to give it some kick! It's like a homemade V8 or even a Virgin Mary. But if I add other green veggies, especially broccoli, spinach, kale, etc. then it becomes more like a green smoothie and the tomatoes just make it a little sweeter and less grassier tasting. I also like adding a little onion and garlic - just tiny amount works. It gives the smoothie a little zesty kick.

[Anonymous]

Oh, PP again. For two people, two large tomatoes and a big handful of greens. Half of a bell pepper and one celery stick. I always add ice to - makes it cold and thins it out a little.