kale smoothies

[rainbowgardener]

so my old blender that I had for decades finally died and I got a nice new one. I have kale in the garden getting huge. I haven't done anything with it so far, while I've been focusing on keeping up with the swiss chard. I know about using kale as a green in soups, stir fries, etc. But any one have a good kale smoothie recipe they like (kale and fruits or veggies or both) that TASTES good as well as is nutritious? I keep hearing about how healthy they are, but it always sounds pretty strange to me.

Thanks!

[imafan26]

I have one that my friend makes. She uses different things every time but here is what goes in the Ninja
Washed and chopped kale with the midribs removed and frozen
Frozen fruit bananas, grapes, watermelon, orange, papaya, berries, mango, pineapple, peaches, whatever you have.
Crushed ice or ice cubes
Almond milk (you can use regular milk, but a lot of us are lactose intollerant)
celery
apples
flax seed
peanut butter adds extra protein
Honey optional. If the fruit is sweet you don't have to add sugar. Almond milk is also sweet
nuts are optional
Add to blender and blend until smooth. Serve immediately. Very high in fiber so don't drink more than one glass.

[applestar]

Apparently I made several that made an impression here. They were mostly posted in the smoothies thread but here they are:

Kale smoothies --

Subject: Fresh Fruit and Veggie Smoothie Recipes

Today's smoothie was so balanced in flavors that none stood out -- not sweet, not tart/sour, not salty, not bitter.... But strangely so delicious that my DD stood up and poured herself a 2nd glass as soon as she finished her 1st, then spooned out the clinging remains... DH stopped by while out for lunch so I gave him a small portion in a yellow and blue glass to hide its color, and he downed it saying it was delicious (very unusual)... I nearly finished my own 2nd serving before remembering to pause and take a picture.



Big pile of torn Lacinato kale leaves, ribs removed, enough rice milk to cover, blended smooth with freshly squeezed lemon juice and some sea salt, then added maple syrup and a frozen overripe banana, whole milk greek yogurt, 1/2 perfectly ripe avocado. When blended smooth, it turned out very thick (like custard) so added some bottled spring water and blended to a pourable consistency.


BTW, I gave a kale rib to one of the cats as a joke and she munched it up , so I put a few more in their food dish. The 2nd kitty came along and two of them chewed and crunched and ate them all up. Funny cats...I think 2nd DD has been forgetting to give them their vitamins.

Yep looks like Red Russian Kale which I've been letting go to seed and they self seed everywhere. Very good eating. Young leaves are good for salads and older bigger leaves for kale chips and sneaking into smoothies for the kids to drink their veggies.

They particularly liked Banana, Kale, Kiwi combo. Recently, DD said, you added kale didn't you? The smoothie wasn't this green -- it was more like pale yellow -- when I saw it last, then I walked away and now it looks greener! But they loved it anyway. This one was banana, mango, and avocado + kale.

Subject: Fresh Fruit and Veggie Smoothie Recipes

I made another smoothie today --

Large bunch of Lacinato/Toscana kale fresh picked from the garden, no bottom stems.
About a cup of roasted unsalted almonds in almost 2 cups of hot water,
Blend smooth into green milk.

Add 1 frozen overripe banana, and fair slosh of unfiltered apple juice, blend.

Maple syrup goodly amount, and about 1/4-1/2 c frozen red raspberries from our garden,

Sea Salt and pink Himalayan sea salt. Finally, about a cup of ice cubes and blend smooth. (I have to do a lot of blending in stages because I have an underpowered blender)

I gave DH his in a small 6 oz glass since its was only his 2nd time drinking one of my green kale smoothies -- my girls and I got ours in 8 oz and 12 oz glasses twice and 1/2 serving more -- DH actually asked for 2nd serving, then when I asked who wants to finish it, he was the first one to raise his empty glass for a third serving.

Subject: Fresh Fruit and Veggie Smoothie Recipes

Banana-Kale-Blueberry smoothie

2 nearly overripe fresh organic bananas
2 cups organic Rice Dream Original Enriched (my fave kind)
About 1 cup frozen kale, no stems -- mostly Red Russian, maybe some broccoli leaves, too
About 1 cup fresh frozen blueberries

-- blend as smooth as possible or as you have patience for --

Added 8 gravy ladles of freshly made elderflower syrup

Added enough ice cubes to just over 4 cup mark on the blender pitcher

Blend.

Pour in glasses, then pour/drizzle Wegmsn's organic plain kefir to taste -- we each added quite a lot.

DH -- remember this is a man who doesn't like eating leafy green vegetables -- "Mmmm... SO GOOD!" ...he drank about 16 oz all by himself.

Subject: Fresh Fruit and Veggie Smoothie Recipes

KaleBananaKiwi PiñaColada Smoothie


Made 4 cups according to blender pitcher --
Frozen:
Kale and broccoli leaves (about 2 cups)
Pineapple (about 1 cup)
Overripe banana (1)

Overripe kiwi (2)

TJ's organic coconut milk (almost entire can -- I had to taste it first )
TJ's plain lowfat kefir

This one was made into the broth for a noodle soup --

I like smoothies and veg juice when I'm sick, too. I've been feeling the summer heat stress.

I made a Korean cold buckwheat noodles the other day. It comes in a package with 2 servings of thin fresh noodles and 2 bags of "radish broth" I was trying it for the first time and had no idea what to expect, so ate 1st serving as is. Yesterday, I made the second serving by blending several huge leaves of Bok Choi, kale, radish and broccoli with the packaged broth into very dark green smoothie, then pouring over the cooked chilled noodles. Torn up nori on top as garnish. Very very green and yummy.

...if you freeze them whole, the tender frozen leaves crumble off of the ribs in the freezer bag, and the ribs can be easily pulled out or left in the bag

[applestar]

@Imafan what's this caution about not having more than one glass? Reading over my kale smoothie posts, it looks like we all had more than one glass, even my DH!

[imafan26]

Well, it was a laxative for me with all that fiber.

[applestar]

BTW I learned early on that if you add red things, the Kale-based smoothie turns an unattractive brown-ish color. At that point, you might as well add molasses and cocoa and make it a chocolate smoothie.

[rainbowgardener]

I guess I should have looked it up myself, but thanks very much everybody! Definitely will try some of them.

Most of them talk about freezing the kale first. Is that important?

[HoneyBerry]

This is our local smoothie expert. Her 'Green Heart Smoothie' is the most beautiful smoothie I have ever seen. (I think you have to buy the recipe.)

Scroll down to the picture of the purple & green smoothie.

https://m.facebook.com/Green-Heart-Smoo ... 5363283919

[applestar]

Ooh so poured in layers -- need two machines (or pitchers).... avoids the muddy mixing of colors... hmmm.

[HoneyBerry]

Yes, the layered look for smoothies is more appetizing than brown smoothies.
I like that they make smoothies in the garden. That's about as fresh as you can get. If you ever see some of their exercise routines, you'd be amazed. They live a very healthy lifestyle. Hiking, smoothies, mangoes, Costa Rica retreats, etc.

[rainbowgardener]

OK so I made my first ever kale smoothie: 5 large kale leaves destemmed, one frozen banana, some peaches, some greek yoghurt, some soy milk. But after blending it a long time in my brand new blender that even has a button labeled "green smoothie," it was still all full of little leaf flakes. Is it supposed to be able to blend it smooth? I did not freeze the kale, since some of applestar's recipes said garden fresh. If I had frozen it, would that help it blend smooth? Taste wasn't bad. Not quite what I would call delicious, but definitely drinkable. But I don't find all the little leaf pieces in my drink to make a very pleasant drinking experience.

[applestar]

I think frozen kale leave definitely start out more tender. Kale leaves go limp pretty easily in a salad as soon as they are hit with dressing though, so you might start by covering with the liquid first and giving it 5 minutes or so? I think that's what I did. You could also try adding ice cubes from the beginning to help beat them up more.

Another option might be to strain them out with medium strainer and use the strained bits in something else -- omelet or breakfast muffin/pancakes maybe?

[imafan26]

Kale is supposed to be less bitter if it is frozen before eating. But we put everything in the blender frozen so the temperature won't drop in processing and have the smoothie melt down too soon.

A drink blender, blends at a different speed than a regular blender. My regular blender can't really chop ice well. The smoothie blender like the ninja bullet not only whips through ice without a problem, it also blends smooth fairly quickly.

[pepperhead212]

My Vitamix makes great smoothies, even grinding up nuts and seeds in the smoothies. Here's something I have found out: even in the VM, if the smoothie is too liquidy then some things just bounce off of the blades, and won't totally grind everything up, even on the high speed. So be sure to make them very thick, at first, then add any water or juice. Pieces of ice will also bounce around like that, if not enough is put in to thicken it.

[applestar]

Vitamix is on my future kitchen upgrade wish list.

My cheap blender does not make smooth smoothies. My smoothies tend to be "chewable"

Today's inspired kale smoothie served swirled with plain kefir and berry juice kefir


(My own Kale and broccoli leaves from the freezer, frozen organic banana, frozen organic peaches, frozen wedge of Meyer lemon -no seeds but whole with peel- bit of organic honey, lots of organic maple syrup, unsweetened organic coconut flakes, organic chia seeds, a bit of sea salt)

[imafan26]

I get the same thing when I use my regular blender, so I have a second blender just for drinks. the only thing that is really different about it is that the regular blender has more settings. The drink blender basically has on off and pulse, but it spins at a much higher speed. I don't add a lot of milk or water to the blender. It just needs a little to get started. I sometimes do add protein powder, banana or orange frost smoothie mixes to make it thicker.