Red Kale Pomegranate Smoothie

It's a rainy Sunday at our house. My kitchen is a total disaster and I am procrastinating. I just made this fabulous smoothie, with the tart flavor of pomegranate balanced with the sweetness of a ripe banana.

I do realize my pictures suck. Working on it.

I came back from squeezing in a 3.5 mile run before it started raining again, and wanted to have something healthy. Let me preface this by saying we took the kids to the drive-in to see Puss n' Boots last night and my dinner consisted of massive amounts of homemade popcorn seasoned with salt and olive oil accompanied by many M&M's and a large plastic cup of red wine. Yeah.

So back to my healthy smoothie. I bought this pomegranate at the Farmer's Market and I wasn't sure what to do with it. I always do that. I buy them because they are in season and they look so good, and then I end up just snacking on them plain. Not that there is anything wrong with that...but I was hoping to be more creative since I have time on my hands. I'm procrastinating from cleaning my kitchen (and folding laundry too), remember?

You will need:
1/2 pomegranate, seeded
1/2 cup crushed ice
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup almond milk
1 small banana flavored yogurt
1/2 ripe banana
3 red kale leaves, chopped in small pieces and tough bottom stems discarded
a blender - slotted spoon - strainer


Well this turned out to be a little time consuming but I am happy with the finished product. Start by putting on an apron, dark shirt, or other shirt that you don't mind getting stained. Cut the pomegranate in half, and gently peeled off the larger hunks from the seeds. Then, I got a bowl of water and submerged the pomegranate and continued to "detail" the removal of the outer peeling. I learned this from an episode of Martha Stewart years ago. The yummy pom seeds will sink, and the yucky white stuff that you are removing will rise to the top. It's not a perfect system, but it does make it a bit easier because the water keeps the white stuff from sticking to your hands.

Then I took a slotted spoon and removed all the white stuff from the top. Gosh, I am sorry I keep staying "white stuff' but I don't know what the technical term is. I poured out the water and I was left with this:

Beautiful right? So I added the ice, almond milk and water to my blender. Next I added the pom seeds, the kale leaves and banana. Whirrrrr.....

 
I will share with you my trial and error. I am used to adding water to my kale smoothies because it is usually required to blend up the kale leaves easily and prevent the "chunk" factor. I think the pom seeds contained enough water that extra H20 may not have been necessary. When I poured the smoothie it was more like a juice. Which would have been fine, but I like a little more substance. Plus, I knew I needed a protein source anyway. Back to the blender with the yogurt I had in the fridge:

I also realized that the edible seed portion attached to the fruit - which is an excellent source of fiber, by the way - did not grind up in the Bullet. Great if you want fiber, and annoying if you are trying to drink something and keep getting little bits in your mouth. After blending in the yogurt, I poured the smoothie through a strainer and into a glass. Much better!

This was so yummy! Definitely worth it if you have a little extra time on your hands. You can also buy the pom seeds without having to do the work, but they are pricey. I'm sure pomegranate juice would also be a good short cut, with less fiber. 

Pomegranate is an excellent source of vitamin C and B5 as well as antioxidants. Kale is an excellent source of Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B and betacarotene. (source: Wikipedia).

Enjoy!

Adventures in Coconut Water, Kale and Squash

I'm just going to say it. I don't get the coconut water hype. I had tried some when I was getting my hair done a couple weeks ago and enjoyed the flavor but didn't examine the label closely. I bought some on my own today at lunch and again, picked it up blindly without reading the can. Maybe if I was totally burned out on water and just wanted the taste of something else...I just cant justify 12 grams of sugar. It was tasty, but I really think I should have only had about half of this can. In the end, I just don't think that it tasted so great that it was worth the sugar. I will stick to plain water unless I'm in the mood for a treat. In which case, I'd have ice cream and cake (hellloooo?).

I've been experimenting with red kale lately. It has the same amazing health benefits if it's green cousin, but with a slightly different flavor. It's less bitter and more mild. I still like the green kale in my smoothies much more, maybe I"m just used to it. So far I've made the red kale by sauteeing it with onion and garlic and its really good. An excellent side vegetable if you are looking for more variety. Can't beat the B vitamins, vitamin A as well as the other minerals you get from this tasty veggie!!

I bought a spaghetti squash last week and was tempted to just make it the way I usually do. That is, roast it, clean out the innards and make "spaghetti" with the strands, and eat with butter and parmesan and garlic. Well, I happened to see this recipe for Spaghetti Squash Lasagna on Skinnytaste and thought I'd branch out. I did not get any photos of it, as I made it at my parents house. Everyone was actually surprised at how much more they liked it than they thought they would. No one in my family is a fan of the spaghetti squash like I am apparently!

Have you ever tried red kale? How do you like to eat it? Spaghetti squash is in season and I'm looking forward to trying more recipes!