Wednesday, July 6, 2011

FTW! Kale Smoothie - Trial and Error

Now THIS concoction is something I will look forward to!

Ok, I think I've got it now. Last time I made a juice-based smoothie with my kale. As you may have read, I liked it a lot better than I thought I would but still wanted to experiment with flavor as it was just a little bitter. This time, I used less kale (approximately 2 cups instead of 3). I also used almond milk instead of orange juice. I found that this counteracted the bitterness in the kale much more than juice. This one was really good. We had a leftover fruit salad from Costco that someone brought over on the 4th, and it was perfect for throwing into the 'Bullet.

Beautiful , healthy kale

I used a whole banana, a couple days too ripe for eating plain.

The banana had the perfect sweetness for this smoothie
 I chose some mango, blueberries, a couple strawberries and melon from the fruit salad. (My kids don't like melon or mango. Perfect).

I chose fruit from this leftover salad that I knew my kids wouldn't eat
 I used a cup of my favorite almond milk.  And a cup of crushed ice.

I buy 2 of these when I go to Trader Joe's now!

I did not stuff my MB full of kale this time
 No extra spices or sweeteners were necessary for this delicious  - and I mean DELICIOUS - smoothie. I could really taste the banana, and I like banana. Whirrrr...and voila! Enough for 2 of us!

Not as green as the other smoothies I made. Sort of Shamrock-ish
 I can't wait to buy more kale at the Farmer's Market this weekend. Consider me hooked!!!

I know not everyone will have a fruit salad handy like I did but what's great about smoothies is the recipe doesn't have to be exact.

Recipe for Hungrigyrl Kale-Banana Delite:
2 cups kale, rinsed and lightly chopped (discard tough stems at the end)
1/2 cup blueberries
1/4 cup mango
1 ripe banana
1/4 cup honeydew or cantaloupe (I used both)
2 strawberries (optional)
1/2 cup crushed ice (optional)

I really want all you green smoothie skeptics to give this a try. Unless you hate bananas, you will love this smoothie!

6 comments:

  1. You know what? I love kale! The smoothie sounds absolutely yummy. I'm going to try making me some this weekend. Thanks for the recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  2. We love green smoothies! And thanks for reminding me, I'll definitely add kale to my shopping list for my next Whole Foods run. I worked my way through the tub of organic spinach from Costco much faster than I thought I would, so now I'm all out of greens (except the ever present brocoli!).

    I haven't tried the TJ's vanilla almond milk yet (need to check that it's GFCF), but I've been picking up the three packs of the Silk vanilla almond milk at Costco. The nice thing about the three packs is that I don't feel guilty using it! When I only have one at a time, I find myself saving it for my son, who can't have the cow's milk in the fridge. Love how creamy the almond milk makes the smoothies!

    Hope your week is going well!:>

    ReplyDelete
  3. I still don't think I'm brave enough to try it! Although you *might* just be convincing me!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love cooking with kale, never tried it in a smoothie. Great idea! New follower from bloggy moms, have a great day! You can find me at
    http://wvfrugal-wvsaver.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  5. This looks really green and healthy. I bet it tastes yums. I'm going to try this once I find where they've got the kale hidden ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I want a taste of this smoothie right now! I love kale, fruits, almond and milk so I'm sure I would love it. I will make sure to buy kale next time I go to the grocery store and try this recipe!
    I found you on bloggymoms!

    ReplyDelete

Hungripeeps want to say: