Vita-mix

I finally took the plunge and bought a vita-mix.  Smoothies every day and last night I made a cashew sauce over steamed kale - so awesome!

I've been making this yummy "chocolate" smoothie

milk (soy, almond, cow - whatever floats your boat) (about 1 C?)
2-3 TBS cocoa powder
frozen banana
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup frozen cherries
2 large figs
1 TBS flax
5 oz spinach (yes 5 oz!)

This makes 2 big glasses, but I drink them both!

it looks horrible, but tastes yummy.  at least I think so ;-)

I want to try this but I don' t have a blender yet.  I have heard you can also use 2 big handfulls of kale instead of the spinach.

You can use Kale, but Kale and other big greens like collard or chard have a distinctive flavor that is not masked by the banana/chocolate/berry combo.  I don't mind it, but you definitly taste the kale.

I find kale juice absolutely repulsive by itself.  BUT...  It is very easily masked, especially with lemon. (Don't put lemon in your chocolate smoothie, please!!)

Wheat grass juice, on the other hand, is completely unmaskable.  I just pinch my nose and drink straight shots.

I find using greens in smoothies a little chunky.  And I usually do not shy away from fiber in my diet.  I have a 3HP/1500W Blendtec blender, so it's not a lack of power by any means.

I prefer to run my greens through my Omega 8003 juicer, then add the green juice to a fruit smoothie.

Here's a couple of my own recipes, stupid names included.

Cocoa-Bee shake
6 ounces walnut milk (or hemp/almond/soy)
3 pitted Medjol Dates (large)
1 Tbsp Agave Nectar
2 Tsp Raw Bee Pollen (technically not vegan, can omit)
1 Tsp Raw Chocolate Powder
pinch celtic sea salt
Seeds of half Vanilla Bean or 1 tsp. extract
16 oz Ice Cubes

Greena-Colada
(Don't try this in a normal blender.  Substitue pineapple juice if you don't have a kick-@$$ blender)
Half pinapple
16 oz Coconut water
1 tsp coconut butter
1/2 cup parley
1 cup baby bitter greens
3 pitted Medjol dates
1 tsp spirunila (blue-green algae)
good pinch of Celtic Sea salt
8 oz ice

I can't beleive it's not Yogurt!!
(taste and texture EXACTLY like cow's milk yogurt)
1/2 c raw (unsalted) macadamia nuts
1 c strawberries
2 Kiwi
1/4 c goji, soaked
16 oz coconut water
1 tsp coconut butter
1 T Agave
1 tsp vanilla
good pinch celtic sea salt
16 oz ice

The last one sounds heavenly (yogurt).  I made something similar to your cocoa shake last night, but I included a frozen banana, only 1 date, no bee pollen and more cocoa.  It was thick so I scooped it out of the blender into a bowl and ate it like ice cream.

Although I admit that I paid almost as much for the blender as I did for my new couch, I probably use the blender more (so far).

Here is the cashew sauce great on steamed kale:

1/2 c raw cashews
1 tbsp raw sesame seeds
1/2 to 3/4 c or so milk of choice (what can I say, I am bad about measuring)
1.5 tbsp or so of Braggs mixed seasonings (or any mixed spice)
pinch of salt (optional)

blend until smooth - you want it on the runny side.  toss with steamed kale (this will coat a lot of kale - 2 bunches).