In keeping with Friday’s Earth Day green theme, I thought I’d repost something I wrote on my non-cooking blog before Test Kitchen Tuesday was even a glimmer of an idea in my mind: How to make palatable green drinks.
They’re all the rage, but, if you’ve never made one before, how do you know what to put in a green drink?
I think there is room to explore, and, unlike the the drink in this photo, it doesn’t have to be completely green for it to be green!
In my humble opinion, the idea is more about packing nutrition into a tidy and tasty vessel – not drinking something that looks like it belongs on a science fiction program.
I follow a pretty simple formula where I add liquid, protein, something to make it thick, something sweet, and a green. I sometimes add ice, sometimes not.
I’m to the point where I pretty much always throw in a couple handfuls of something green when I make a smoothie. The “what” just depends on what I have on hand. Everything from spinach to chard to kale work well, and just plain old romaine lettuce is great (and mild) too. The best part is, in blended form, you pretty much don’t even notice the green item.
Here are some ideas for ingredients for a pick me up in a glass. Add the ingredients in the order listed for the most success blending in a normal blender, or, toss in however you want in a Ninja Blender (though I still recommend the green as the last item added). If you’re watching calories, you can use water as the liquid, or, for a creamier drink, use skim, almond, or soy milk. Add ice if you please, or, skip if you don’t.
| Liquid | Protein Source | Thickening Ingredient | Sweet Ingredient | Green |
| 1 cup water or milk + 1/4 cup crushed ice | 1 scoop Trader Joe’s Vanilla Hemp Protein Powder | 1 cup roasted and cubed winter squash (any variety), frozen | 1 kiwi fruit | 2 cups spinach |
| 1 cup water or milk + 1/2 cup crushed ice | 1 scoop Designer Whey Vanilla Protein Powder | 1 frozen banana (cut it up and freeze it in small chunks) | 2/3 cup frozen berries, any variety | 5 kale leaves, center stem removed |
| 1 cup water or milk + 1/2 cup crushed ice | ¼ cup Trader Joes Partially Defatted Peanut Flour | 1 banana, frozen in small chunks | ½ tablespoon honey | 2 cups romaine lettuce (really) |
If you don’t like any of these combinations, just remember the formula, and you’re golden! The idea I wanted to express is that you can mix and match any variety of items to create something that suits your personal tastes, and get in some extra greens while you’re at it!
View Comments (19)
Very cool Angela!
Thanks Chandana – I hope you try it out.
VERY YUMMY!!! This is the easiest formula that I have found! I am totally addicted to “GREEN” now!!! I use Vanilla Almond Milk…..turns out very yummy ? ? ? I am going to try adding some Golden Organic Flax Seed next time and maybe throw in a tsp of Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil!!!!
Yay, Sarah, glad to hear! It is so easy to get a little extra green in your day this way. ? I wish I could add the flax seed, but that is one of the few things I’m allergic to. It’s a bummer, too, because I love it! Thanks for your nice note!
Thanks so much for posting the “green drink” recipe ideas. My daughter just gave me a ninja blender for Mother’s Day. I’m trying to get on an alkaline diet (borderline osteoporosis). Can’t wait to try them. Any other alkaline recipes would be greatly appreciated. The flax see and coconut additions sound good too. Thanks again.
Hi Tricia,
I would recommend you pick up the “Crazy Sexy Diet” cookbook – it is full of alkalinizing recipes . I recommend reading the book too — it is a great story of a woman healing herself with food. Also, if you have never tried Teecino (you can get it at Whole Foods or Amazon) it is a an herbal coffee/tea that has alkalinizing properties – perhaps you could use that to make some blended coffee drinks. Good luck – you are definitely doing good things by getting ahead of it! Angela
Hi Angela, Just ordered the sampler from Teeccino. Coffee is one thing I fight every day to give up. This sounds like a great alternative. Looking forward to trying it. I’m also going to get the cookbook (from the library first). It sounds good too. Thanks so much for the suggestions.
Hi Tricia,
I think you’ll like the Teecinio. In fact, I wrote a post about how I used Teecino to give up coffee over here: https://testkitchentuesday.com/2011/12/05/how-i-gave-up-daily-coffee-with-no-side-effects/
Smart to get the cookbook from the library! I also heard a podcast over the weekend that mentioned that cucumber juice is one of the most alkalinizing juices you can make, so perhaps give that a whirl.
Good luck!
Angela
Thank you so much for the Green recipes. I bought a juicer, however I found using a juicing machine very wasteful. All the pulp and nutrients were going into a bucket. I knew there had to be a machine that could use the whole fruit and vegetable. I just purchased the Ninja Blender, and was wandering how to use it as a juicer for all my juicing as well. I cannot wait to try your recipes. I will keep you posted on the Juicing venture!!!!
Hi Gina,
Have fun, and yes, definitely let me know how you do or if you come up with any good recipes you’d like to share with other readers!
Angela
Hey Angela,
I am looking for a cookbook for the Ninja
that addresses VEGETABLE juicing (prep
and recipes)……..Also, I am a total Teeccino
convert. It is amazing and a great substitute
for coffee.
Thanks and cheers,
Annie
Hi Anne,
Did you see the post I wrote last week about making a veggie juice blend in the Ninja. It is pretty tasty – from Dr. Oz’s cleanse. I don’t have a recomendation for a cookbook/recipebook for juicing veggies with the Ninja. The best advice I can give you is to experiment. You can also take any recipes made for a juicer and apply them to the Ninja – you just need to add water (small amount to allow for blending) and then strain with a mesh sieve.
Glad to hear you like the Teeccino. I love that stuff!
what is teeccino, I have never heard of that
Teeccino is an herbal coffee with no caffeine that is non acidic. You can get it from Amazon or places like Whole Foods market. It comes ground or in tea bags!
Hi Angela,
I just got the Ninja NJ600 Pro Blender this weekend and was able to make a green smoothie today. It definitely handled all the ingredients fine but it didn’t blend the green (I used baby spinach) as smoothly as I would have liked. You could see all the tiny green pieces in the smoothie. Any suggestions for making it smoother and more like the photo posted above? Also for getting the green down and around the blades? My family spoiled me back home with a vitamix but I’m a college student and I couldn’t afford my own so I went with the $99 ninja.
Thanks!!
Hi Patrick,
Indeed, that is one of the drawbacks of the blade design of the Ninja.
Because they are big blades that go through the middle, it will leave little bits of green. What I do to solve this is add ice cubes or frozen fruit, depending on what I’m making. I don’t know why this helps, but it does, especially if you are making more of a juice. Add 4-5 ice cubes to your mixture before blending, pulse to combine, then blend on “3” until you get a consistency you like. You will probably still see a little bit of “bits,” but it’s not much compared to if you don’t add the ice or frozen fruit.
Hope that helps!
Angela
Great, thanks for the tip. Ill have to try that!
Hi Angela
Great posts…. I have a quick qn. Does ninja blend seeds like flex seeds or pomegranate seedS really well. Mine doesn’t seem to. Any tips for that
Hi Min,
If you have the single serve cup, you can blend up seeds pretty well, but the larger pitchers aren’t great at this due to the blade design. If you’re making smoothies, adding ice helps blend them up better, as does more volume of ingredients in the jar.
Hope that helps!
Angela