You can find my original spinach smoothie post here.
Spinach does not last long in the fridge! So what’s a busy person to do who can’t be running to the store every other day for fresh spinach? Go for FROZEN!
Yes FROZEN spinach – I like to use the bags of organic that come with the leaves flash-frozen so they actually leaves and not a big block of green sludge.
Put the frozen spinach right in the blender! If your blender is not very powerful you will want to do a small amount at a time or let the spinach thaw a big otherwise you will end up with a big chunck of green ice at the bottom of your blender! (You will also have trouble if you use frozen spinach and then put frozen fruits in as well – just add everything slowly with water and you should be ok! Or let some things thaw in the fridge over night!)
In addition to my strawberry-banana spinach smooth from the link above – here are some other combos to think about!
Base: 2 cups raw or frozen spinach. Water. (Dates to sweeten if needed).
Other things to add in:
Banana and flax seed – adds a yummy nutty flavor!
Strawberry/Mango
Mandarin Oranges/Strawberry
Peaches/Pineapple
April 21, 2009 at 11:48 pm
I’ve been using frozen spinach in my smoothies too
I find the cheapest & easiest method is to buy the bags of unfrozen pre-washed leaves, and then just freeze these directly. The frozen leaves are real easy to break up by hand prior to insertion into the blender.
On a related note, after much experimentation, I find the best way to freeze bananas is to peel a “bunch,” single layer them in a zip-lock, and lay the bag flat in the freezer (I usually stack multiple bags). It’s then easy to separate individual bananas (as opposed to when they’re sliced), and not too tough to snap ‘em in half for blending, if necessary.
June 7, 2009 at 6:32 pm
I think it’s better to actually buy the spinach already frozen – they flash freeze it so it has optimal nutrients. When you get fresh leaves, they start losing nutrients quickly. I’m glad to read using frozen spinach in smoothies is good – I plan to try that now.
June 8, 2009 at 1:14 am
I use frozen all the time, works great!!
June 9, 2009 at 5:52 pm
I never thought of using spinach as an ingredient in a smoothie before, but now am intrigued. That’s going on my TO-CONSUME list!