Hi.
I realize this smoothie is a little on the green side. Fear not lovely readers who have yet to jump aboard the green smoothie train – it tastes like an Orange Creamsicle. No, really! I know that seems highly unlikely looking at the color of it, and reading the list of ingredients will probably do nothing to quell your that-can’t-possibly-taste-good fears. There’s nothing else for it – you’re just going to have to trust me on this one and whip it up one morning. If you’re conscious of odd looks and strange comments at the office, grab yourself one of those colorful cups – no one will be any the wiser.
The problem with most smoothie recipes is that many of them use banana to give it that creamy texture. We don’t do bananas. Then they’ll use fruits like apples and grapes to sweeten them, because they are really good at sweetening things. We don’t do those super-sweet fruits. So I really had to start from scratch on the smoothie front. If you’re like me, the thought of drinking your veggies in liquid form isn’t horrible, but if I had a choice I’d really rather prefer it if they tasted like something else entirely. Like an Orange Creamsicle or a Strawberry Milkshake.
In the first Green Smoothie I made for you I used avocado to give the creamy texture. With this one, although the pith of the oranges helps, there’s nothing to hold everything together, and quickly after mixing, smoothies like this tend to separate. I don’t care for that whole weird texture thing, so I was racking my brains for a solution that didn’t involve adding avocado, but was something bland enough to not alter the flavor. Enter guar gum, which I have been playing around with as a crumb stabilizer / emulsifier in *SANE baked goods. Turns out a splash of guar gum at the very end solves every smoothie texture and separation issue around. Yay. I really mean, YAY!!!
So while guar gum is optional, it will improve the texture and creaminess of your smoothie by miles, and will also prevent your smoothie from separating if you don’t drink it fast enough. On those days when you make a smoothie in the morning but plan to drink half of it later in the day, your separation issues are now a thing of the past.
Bottoms up!
- ½ cup unsweetened coconut milk
- ¼ cup non-fat Greek yogurt
- 6 cups / 6 oz fresh spinach
- 2 oranges, take zest from ½ an orange before peeling
- 3 scoops / 1 cup vanilla whey protein powder
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- Xylitol or equivalent sweetener to taste
- ½ tsp guar gum
- Place ingredients in blender in order listed, including orange zest, except guar gum.
- Blend on high until completely smooth.
- Remove blender lid stopper and while blender is still running shake guar gum in.
- Blend for 10 seconds.
*SANE™, inSANE, SANEity – terms used in Jonathan Bailor’s book, The Smarter Science of Slim.
by carrie
Cowgirl Rae - When calling 6 cups of spinach does that equal one of the boxes one might buy? How does that translate into weight? I’ve never found a reasonable way to measure raw spinach into cups. I looked at guar gum at the store recently (spendy) how does it compare to xanthan gum? They were both at the store.
carrie - Hi Rae, Guar gum is used mainly in cold applications, xanthan gum in hot. They have very similiar effects as thickeners. They are spendy but you use tiny amounts so a little goes a long way. I am going to weigh a cup of spinach for you later :-)
Julie - This. Is. So. Good. Thank you! I used the little clementines I picked up at Costco and had kale in the fridge. I was inspired by your milk cubes and made coconut milk cubes with the extras from the last smoothie. These were perfect to keep it cold since it doesn’t have frozen fruit in it. And my new silicon cups arrived today :)
carrie - YES!!! I love milk cubes and this is a great way to use them ;-)
Shannon - This is so good! Thanks for the recipe, and for this wonderful site.
carrie - THANK YOU, Shannon for your kind words. Huge thanks for your support!!
carrie - Hey Rae! I weighed what I call a cup of fresh spinach and it is 1 oz. I’ll use weights in future and update the previous recipes. Thanks for making me do that! :-)
Cowgirl Rae - THANKS…. that makes sense. I will buy a scale one day. But knowing an ounce is helpful for portioning for the boxes I buy.
You’re the best!
carrie - Hey Rae – I admit – your use of the word “boxes” in relation to spinach scares me. Are you talking fresh or cooked spinach? I’m talking fresh…
Stacey - Could you please explain why you use whey protein? I have read that whey is harder to digest than rice, pea and cranberry protein.
carrie - Hi Stacey – the short answer is because Jonathan Bailor said so (and 10 years of research is enough for me!) :-) The more technical answer is that whey protein is more nutrient dense then any other known protein. It is also very easily digested. Living SANE is all about getting the most nutrition we can and eating those things that help our bodies unclog and start working as they should naturally. Whey protein is a great way to help with that.
Cowgirl Rae - Carrie, by ‘boxes’ I mean the fresh spinach I buy comes in a clear plastic box. Usually 11 or 16 ounces.
I’ve not had luck with purchasing bundles spinach…. its usually wet and dirty. The boxed is clean, dry and washed during packaging.
Not frozen!!!
carrie - Oh thank heavens, Rae. I’ll be able to sleep tonight now.
Cowgirl Rae - LOL…. I can see you lying awake, worried about how the smoothie turns out using frozen spinach… all discolored, stringy and pond scummy!
I have used frozen spinach thawed and squeezed dry and chopped for spinach dip, I like it for that use.
As a kid I was forced to eat canned spinach, boiled and dressed with vinegar…. it was a favorite of my mother. I went decades before ever trying spinach again.
Sorry Popeye, but canned spinach is from *ell.
carrie - Frozen spinach has given me nightmares my whole life! :-) And worrying about SANE recipes really does keep me up at night!
Lisa - How many cups do your smoothies measure out to? I’m curious to see if they will fit in a 12 or 16 oz travel cup.
carrie - Lisa – I won’t be able to answer this until I get back from my shooting trip.
Nikki - Hi Carrie! I’m curious if you’ve ever made smoothies with chia seeds as a thickening agent? I’m sure this wouldn’t work with regular blenders, but since you and JB convinced me to buy a Viatmix in your last podcast, I am SOOOOOOOOOOO excited to start try these smoothies. I’m wondering if chia seeds would gel enough during the mixing process to help hold the smoothie together? Not only that, but we all know how SANE chia seeds are, so that would be a bonus too! I’m anxious to hear your thoughts…and I’ll post back as soon as my Vitamix is delivered and I give it a try!
carrie - Nikki – on my *very, very long* list of things to do!! COongrats on making a fabulous investment :-)
Tanya - Hi Carrie,
Have you ever made this recipe with just the coconut milk as I can’t get greek yoghurt where I live? Do you think it would work? Is there any other alternative I can use? (I can’t get low fat yoghurt either).
Thanks
carrie - Hi Tanya – in this instance you can just leave the yogurt out. It will not have quite the same texture, but since it has guar gum in will still be awesome. Hope that helps! Where do you live?
Tanya - Thanks for your quick reply Carrie… Yes! That helps alot :-) I live in Jordan (Middle East)
Cheryl Mathieu - I just made this as my first smoothie ever and I can’t believe how delicious it is! After a long work day, I made it for dinner because I didn’t feel like cooking. I’m already thinking that I might make the strawberry one for breakfast tomorrow. I can see a daily green smoothie addiction starting!
carrie - And Cheryl hops aboard the Smoothie Train. Hoorah!!!! :-D