Parsley

Same fruit, different greens – smoothie

There are times when you know that a different type of green would just mix better with a particular type of fruit, but that opportunity to actually give it a try doesn’t come along very offend. Yet, for me, this last week I was blessed with 5 lbs of amazingly great black grapes, a ripe pineapple and 10 fresh young Thai coconuts! That’s right, 10.

What an amazing deal on coconuts. Last weekend Lori and I stopped into the local Uwajimaya and the first thing we saw was the 10 for $10 posted above the coconuts. Knowing that I wanted to make cacao pudding and smoothies (using the water) I figured 10 was a good round number that we’d be able to put to work.

So, what was Dave’s experiment? Well, it was short lived, and consisted of making the same smoothie using the following different greens: Parsley, Lettuce and Beet Greens.

Recipe:

  • ½ to ¾ cup water
  • 1 inch ripe pineapple
  • Big handful ripe black grapes
  • 6 young fresh Thai coconut water ice cubes
  • Greens of your choice.
  • 1 probiotic optional

They all looked pretty much like this:

And, because I’m an advocate for getting a full day’s worth of greens, I show this blender as being FULL.

The first time, I added Parsley. The parsley in the garden still looks beautiful. The weather has turned a little cooler so it’s pretty much stopped growing, which means it starts to turn bitter. I don’t mind, but Lori simply hates parsley – regardless if it’s bitter or sweet (more for me… lol). I figure I’ve got a week or so before my garden crop turns to mush and I LOVE parsley, thus today, bitter or not, it’s mixed in.

That full blender made a bit more than this quart. The taste was definitely ‘full’ (from the parsley) and sweet (from the grapes). To me, it’s a great combo.

Next day, Beet Greens.

The color is a little more brown form the beets, but the flavor is a lot more smooth. Drinkability wise, this smoothie was better than the parsley based one. Parsley is really strong!

Third day, lettuce.

Notice that big pile of leaves! The lettuce that I planted at the end of July is now bolting. When the plant bolts, the leaves pick up a deeper bitter flavor. Yet, I don’t want to let this bounty go to waste. And, because Lettuce is lower on the mineral charts than the other two, I figured I’d just pile it in.

The end result was the best of the three. Lori liked this one the best, yet the entire mixture is not something that stands out as being a killer-combo. Yet, it meets my goals of making greens consumable!

I wish I’d picked up some spinach or tried the same recipe with Swiss Chard, but I guess I’ll have to wait to finish this experiment another day.

No matter how you look at it, it’s all about masking the off flavors of the greens in a fruit melody that’s not too sweet. This combination of ingredients played out just fine this week so I wanted to share.

Parsley, Peach, Pear Smoothie

The thing that makes this smoothie outstanding is the sesame milk base. Sesame milk is so easy to make and it adds a bitter sweet full bodied texture to the smoothie that doesn’t happen if you simply use water. If you’ve never made sesame milk before, you can read about it in a previous posting here.

I guess the other part I like is the garden fresh parsley! Yes, out of all the greens that I blend up into breakfast food, parsley is my favorite. But it’s not spinach! Everyone loves spinach. Parsley takes a little warming up too, if you know what I mean. Its flavor is much stronger and, if you get the standard curly parsley at the store, it always leaves your mouth feeling like it’s eaten something a little too strong.

That doesn’t happen with this garden parsley. It’s fresh and smooth tasting. Every time I visit the garden, I can’t help but pinch off a couple leaves and chomp them down. I get no negative reaction and my breath is left parsley fresh!

If I could grow more parsley, I’d make it my green of choice.

Recipe:

  • 2 peaches
  • 3 little pears
  • 1 good size bunch parsley
  • 1 ½ cups sesame milk

Notice I didn’t need to add dates to this smoothie!  I LOVE it when the fruit really is ripe and sweet. It makes a huge difference on the resulting flavor of the smoothie. If I haven’t already said this enough – always use ripe fruit!

After I pack all the fruit in and press the greens down hard enough so that I can get the lid on the blender, it sure makes it look like I’ve used a lot of sesame milk.

And look at those parsley leaves!  Yum. This is the broad leaf Italian verity that grows a couple feet tall – but only in warm weather. The plants seem to go on hold if it’s not 70+ outside.

Parsley always turns out thick. You really have to add something like water to get it into a drink like consistency. But for me, I love them thick.

If you’ve never made a parsley smoothie, right now is the best time of year to give it a try. Let me know what you think afterwards.

Parsley, Peach, Pear Smoothie

Day two and I get to enjoy this combination a second time! What a bumper harvest I’m experiencing this year – that is, for greens! I guess I went out of my way to make sure there were enough greens to last all season. And, as you can see from the collection of smoothies lately, all the greens have been from the garden!

But you’ve got to try this combination. Yum.

Recipe:

  • 2 peaches
  • 2 pears
  • 4 little dates
  • Good size bunch of parsley
  • 1 little probiotic (optional)

If you ask me, this is a can’t lose mixture. Of course, parsley is probably my favorite green and the peach- pear combination is my favorite fruit combo, so this one is just made in heaven.

Combine everything into the blender with wet fruit on the bottom.

After sixty seconds you’ll get the best smoothie ever!

If you drink this one with a straw, you’re going to have a hard time sucking it through. It will go through for it’s so fine, but you could hold it sideways and it will pour like ketchup – slow and steady. If you want to give it a little more flow, add half cup water during the blend.

Enjoy!