Leafy greens in smoothies??

[mckennasmom]

My sister in law asked if I ever put kale or other leafy greens in my morning smoothies. I already put carrots and red cabbage into them and the rest is fresh and frozen fruit. I don't like most vegetables and this would be great as I need to get more into my diet somehow, but I am worried about the taste. Any ideas if this would taste ok? I am leary of doing it and thought before I did I'd ask!! She also suggested cooking pasta with seaweed(in the water just to give some of the benefits to the pasta?) but I can't remember what kind she said to use. Anyone know? Thanks-Cathy

[vegma]

I just tried this the other day! I used two big kale leaves, 1/2 bag frozen peaches, 1 frozen banana, 2 non-frozen bananas and a little apple juice. It was green of course, but tasted pretty good. I served it to my non-veggie-eating 4 yo in a glass bowl with a spoon for dinner and told him it was smoothie soup:) He gobbled it right up:D

[beth]

Funny, I was just wondering if this would work for my one-year old.

[Christa]

Vegma, you used raw kale leaves? I have always wondered if your could even eat those raw. I know with rhubarb, it is considered mildly (or more!) toxic when raw & wasn't sure whether kale would fall into that category as well.

[alexis]

hmmm....well, I suppose that if you can throw in spinach or celery, you can pretty much throw anything in...but veggies in smoothies...ew...I'd take them in soups, thanks alot...

[vegma]

Christa, I don't "think" there's anything toxic about raw kale. Maybe I should research it though! I think its a member of the cabbage family ... or maybe thats just collards. I food process raw kale then add navy beans and boiled potatoes for green mashed potatoes that I serve under miso gravy with veggies. And when we pick kale young, we like it in salads with romaine, etc. Typically though, it has a too strong a flavor for us to enjoy raw.

Hey Alexis, you should try my "smoothie soup";)

We could make some big GREEN changes to that Dr. Seuss book around our house:D

[Jenica]

Regarding the seaweed broth for pasta, I usually make mine for miso soup, and I use kombu (sometimes spelled konbu). I'm not sure if that's the most nutritional variety, and it sure does make the house smell like the ocean while it's cooking, but the flavor is very mild and to me very pleasant. So that's a place to start at least. I wouldn't leave the kombu in for more than a few minutes though or you might get overly flavored stock.