Dessert - "Healthy Shamrock Shake"

~¼ cup mint leaves (not packed, loosely in cup)

3 granny smith apples

½ cucumber

~2 cups almond milk 

Ice

Here's the second drink for St. Patrick's Day where I use nothing but green produce. So this tastes nothing like a "Shamrock Shake" but it's definitely a lot healthier. You can use whatever mint you like. I used mint from my father's garden--I think it's lemon balm. Not really my preferred mint but that's all he had. My mint didn't quite make it over the crazy hot summer.

You can use any type of vegan milk for this. Vanilla almond would probably be the best. Or even add some vegan creamer or yogurt to make it more rich. You could also put it in the freezer for a bit after making so it firms up.

The ice is necessary to keep the foam to a minimum. Since this recipe doesn't have any frozen produce, it would be a foamy mess without the ice. I added 3 ice cubes to the blender.

I think I would have liked this better if the mint I had were "mintier". I will have to try making this again when I have a different mint.

Green Smoothie - "Mixi"

3 leaves lacinato kale
Large handful baby spinach
1 cucumber
1 small ruby red grapefruit
1 small handful raspberries frozen
1 handful mango frozen
3 T ground flax seeds
Water

I love the way a bit of citrus can really liven up a smoothie. The acidity balances out the bitterness of the greens and the sweetness of the cucumber and mango. This was a great blend.

Dessert - "Kale 'n Fruit Ice Cream"

6 leaves lacinato kale

1/2 cucumber

16 oz frozen pineapple

Handful black seedless grapes

4 T ground flax seed

1 c soy creamer

1 c unsweetened almond milk

It was the middle of summer and I was really hungry and hot. I knew a green smoothie wouldn't fill me up so I decided to make ice cream from greens and fruit. The main difference between this mix and a green smoothie is I used soy and almond liquids instead of water and it had a higher fruit ratio. I added 1 more tablespoon than I usually use of ground flax seeds so it would be thicker than usual.

If you are eating raw, you could make your own nut milk and use that instead of the soy creamer and almond milk.

I was so excited about it I had forgotten to take a picture of the ingredients so I took one when I remembered. Once blended, I added to my ice cream maker. I have and earlier version of this one and I really like it.

I thought it tasted great--filling and cooled me off but my husband didn't like it at all. I'm not sure why. Maybe because he expects ice cream to have a certain flavor? 

This made a lot! It completely filled up the ice cream maker. I tried freezing what was leftover but it got rock hard and didn't thaw evenly. It was inedible after that. If you make this, make sure you have enough people to eat it just after it's made. 

Green Smoothie - "Romaine Rooibos"

2 handfuls baby red & green romaine
3 romaine hearts
1/2 cucumber
1 small handful blackberries frozen
1 large handful pineapple frozen

Dulse
~8 oz rooibos Earl Grey tea
Ice

I found some Rooibos Earl Grey tea at Whole Foods right before I made this so I was excited to try it out. I'm a huge fan of Earl Grey but I don't drink caffeine. It was good but not very Earl Grey tasting (to be expected). I had a serving of it leftover and noticed it when I was making my smoothie and thought, "hey, why not use that instead of water?" It turned out well! This was the first time I had used tea in a smoothie. It gave it a different flavor--slightly sweet and astringent (in a good way).

Green Smoothie - "Frozen Blue"

3 leaves rainbow chard

2 large handfuls baby spinach

1/2 cucumber (not pictured)

1 small handful mango frozen

1 small handful pineapple frozen

1 small handful peaches frozen

1 large handful blueberries frozen

Handful raw pumpkin seeds

Ice 

Water

When I made this (a long time ago--I can tell by the plastic straw and the poor picture quality), I had a lot of partially used bags of frozen fruit. I decided to use it all up and not let the fruit get that frosty again. Because a lot of the ingredients were frozen, the blender had a hard time mixing it up. I didn't want it to be too watered down so I added the cucumber. Cucumbers and watermelon are great ways to add liquid to a smoothie without that weird watered-down taste.

Green Smoothie - "The Cuke"

3 leaves rainbow swiss chard

2 large handfuls baby spinach

1/2 cucumber

1 handful mango frozen

Meat from young Thai coconut

Handful raw pumpkin seeds

Ice

Water

I forgot to take a picture of the smoothie...nothing special...green.

Even though it only had 1/2 a cucumber, this one came out tasting like a cucumber smoothie. The cucumber must have been very intense! I love cucumbers so I thought this tasted great, of course. 

Green Smoothie Fail - "Dandy Melon"

2 large handfuls baby red & green romaine lettuce
~6 dandelion greens
1/2 cucumber
1/2 Tuscan cantaloupe
Handful frozen mangos
Ice
Water

I thought I'd try a Tuscan cantaloupe...this one was not good.  I'm guessing it just wasn't a good melon rather than that Tuscans aren't good.  It tasted like BO. Here's a tip: taste the produce before you add it to the blender. This recipe is still good though--as long as you use a good melon.

Green Smoothie - "Tart Thanksgiving"

1/2 cucumber
2 handfuls baby spinach
2 leaves lacinato kale
1 handful frozen cranberries
1 thin slice watermelon
1 small handful raw pumpkin seeds
Water

I call this Tart Thanksgiving because of the ingredients--cranberries and pumpkin (seeds) not because I made it for Thanksgiving. I kind of figured I'd have to add more than just the cranberries for the fruit part but wanted to see how it tasted alone. As expected, it was way too tart so I added the watermelon (more than you can see in the picture--it had already sunk down). The smoothie was very tart (but in a good way) after that.

Cranberries add flavor, tartness, but not sweetness. If you use cranberries, you will need to have another fruit that is sweet enough to balance out the bitterness of the greens.

I added the pumpkin seeds at the very end so that there would be something to chew on. Something to change things up.

Green Smoothie - "Melon Rainbow"

1/2 cucumber peeled*

1/4 cantaloupe

3 large leaves rainbow chard

1 thick slice watermelon (not pictured)

Water

*I didn't know it at the time but you do not need to peel cucumbers.

This tasted great but was very foamy--I did not know it at the time but frozen produce and/or ice keeps the foam to a minimum. 

Green Smoothie - "Green Melon"

1/2 cantaloupe
1 cucumber, peeled*
2 leaves lacinato kale 

2 large handfuls baby spinach
2 leaves red chard 

Water

*I didn't know it at the time but you do not need to peel cucumbers.

It looks like there is less greens then there really is because the cucumbers are sitting on top of all of it. This is the first green smoothie I made that didn't need major tweaking. The only thing I would change knowing what I know now (other than not peeling the cucumbers) is add ice and less water to compensate. The ice (or frozen produce) keeps the foaming to a minimum.