The other night, a friend of mine mentioned that while she was impressed with my lunchboxes, she was really afraid of my green shakes. When I bought my Vita Mix earlier this year, another friend of mine said “does that mean you can make your disgusting green drinks faster now?” (my old blender had been on its last legs, so a green smoothie was a 20-minute affair, and it still required a lot of chewing). My husband avoids my entreaties to try a green smoothie, except when he had a bad cold and agreed to drink a three-sip serving.
I was never particularly afraid of green smoothies conceptually, but to be honest, I really had no interest in drinking them. That is, until I took a long look at my health and decided that if I was going to up my daily cup or so of green salad to to 3-5 cups of dark leafy greens and keep eating those greens, I really needed to find a way to not have to chew my way through all of it because, as much as I love salads, there are only so many salads one can eat in a day, as I discovered.
Enter the green smoothie. The first time I made one, I used kale and frozen raspberries and it turned brown and I did not want to post a picture. I had read at that point that green smoothies tasted like banana shakes if you used spinach and banana, but at the time I was on a fairly strict low-sugar diet – not as strict as the Anti-Candida diet, but it still did not include banana. Raspberries and a combination of kale and spinach worked well though eventually, when I did add banana back to my diet, I started seeing why people loved raved using them in green smoothies – not so much for the taste as the texture. Smoothies did not separate anymore – they were lovely.
Lately though, I have been trying to move away from eating bananas every single day and trying to experiment with other, lower-sugar, fruits. And also to try new greens in my smoothies. I love spinach in smoothies best, followed by collards, and then kale. But I was ignoring all these other greens at the market. And apples are gloriously in season. So, with a little encouragement from the Pure2Raw Twins (who come up with all sort of fantastic smoothie creations with a variety of greens and fruit), I played around with various combinations. Some were better than others but, for some reason, the combination I kept putting off trying bok choy in a smoothie.
I really feared the raw boy choy – I have never liked it in salads, so how could I like it in a smoothie (and bok choy sauteed in sesame oil does not count as getting over my fear – almost everything tastes good sauteed in sesame oil). So when I read that Diane from The W.H.O.L.E. Gang is hosting this month’s Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten-Free and that her theme is Scared Silly, I figured it was time to think about getting over my fear of raw bok choy, not to mention the idea of a bok choy apple smoothie. Specifically, Diane wanted us to create something using an ingredient we once feared.
When I first tried an apple bok choy smoothie but I realized I had to remove two of my smoothie staples (almond milk and vanilla protein powder) to make it not taste chalky, So I tweaked a bit and came up with this Apple Bok Choy smoothie below. It tastes like a very apple-y, slightly spicy smoothie. And I got over my fear of raw bok choy.
Be sure to check out the other Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten-Free entries . Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free was created by Naomi Devlin of the wonderful blog Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried. I just realized this is my second time participating in this event AND my second time submitting a smoothie. I promise next month I will think of something new!
Apple Bok Choy Smoothie (gluten-free, vegan, low-glycemic, soy-free)
Makes 2 16oz servings
Note: if you are using a non-high-speed blender, I recommend chopping the bok choy and apple into smaller pieces.
- 1 11oz container coconut water
- 2 cups boy choy, chopped
- 1 apple, cored and chopped
- 10 drops vanilla liquid stevia
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 8 ice cubes
Blend all ingredients together. Serve cold.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Do you store them for later? Do they keep? Or does it need to be enjoyed soon after making it?
have you tried using pumpkin? i make smoothies with just pumpkin, spinach, almond milk, stevia, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice and tumeric. they are perfectly sweet, low sugar and have the most lovely thick texture!
I can't imagine smoothies without banana! I only use a half or less. I think green smoothies are misrepresented. I used to think they were green smoothies with only greens, water, and something like ginger. Ugh, never for me. But now I realize a green smoothie usually has fruit in it and that makes it much easier on the palate! And now I have one every day! Not sure about bok choy though…never say never, right!
i love green smoothies but haven't had one in a while. my boyfriend takes the side of your hubby and sometimes won't even taste my concoctions haha.
hugs!!
so glad you decided to give bok choy a try! We love it in smoothies ; )
Ooh, I might have to try this! I have bok choy in the fridge that badly needs to be used up.