You’ll love it, or hate it. I’ll bet that you won’t find a middle ground with this one. It’s bold, heavy and filling – which can make this a meal rather than just a snack. But then, if you can’t tolerate it, the impact will simply be emotional and you’ll quickly look for something else that’s a lot more forgiving.
I love it. This is one of my favorite ways to eat kale. The lemon adds the sour, the blueberries add a bold flavor, the oranges add volume, the pear adds texture and the coconut milk adds a mild toner to bring it all together. A Meyer’s lemon is even better than a regular lemon, for it’s not as acidy and it’s a bit sweet.
But, this combination might not be for you. The mixture can separate and setup quickly making it a lumpy surprise – if you’re not on top of it. Some people just don’t like kale. And, well, this smoothie has a big bunch that might push you over the top!
Let’s get on with it. I’m finding myself buying more kale lately just so I can make this smoothie. The joy it brings to me adds to my excitement for sharing.
Recipe:
1 Pear
2 Oranges
The juice of ½ Meyer’s lemon
1-2 cups frozen blueberries
1 bunch kale
½ cup flavored liquid probiotic
1 cup coconut milk
Notice that it doesn’t have dates! Kale tastes better if it’s not mixed in a really sweet smoothie. Add all the fruit and give it a spin. Make sure you peal the oranges and remove seeds. With the pear, core it to remove the seeds.
After adding the greens, work them in slowly and then blend on high for about a minute. The frozen blueberries make it easy to run the mixture extra long, for it won’t heat up that quickly. When you’re done, you’ll have 7 cups of a brown sludge like liquid.
It tastes a lot better than it looks. Blueberries never really break down all the way so you’ll have specs of blue. You’ll also find bits of green (from the kale) and white (from the pear) that will keep you full for hours.
I can’t wait for the kale to start growing again in the garden. What I planted last spring is now about a foot tall waiting for the weather to warm just a little. Once it does, I’ll see the early spring leaves that should really make this smoothie pop!
There are two ways that I most enjoy eating kale 1) with blueberries and 2) with even MORE blueberries mixed with watermelon! Watermelon, all around, makes for a great addition to smoothies, but in this case it thins out (and cools) what is normally thick (and warmer). If you love the Kale Blueberry smoothie post I’ve made before, you’ll really love this one!
Oh, and I have to say that I’m totally excited to see the kale coming on in the garden. It’s still a bit cold for it, but I’m able to get the first smaller leaves. I can’t tell any taste difference between the larger leaves and these smaller ones, but it just takes more. After a harvest, I feel that I’ve left the plants naked and exposed! Yet, when I revisit in a few days they look back to normal.
Recipe:
1 cup rejuvelac
1 cup blueberries (wet measure as you poor them into the blender
1 ripe mango
Couple medjool dates
2-4 cups watermelon
Juice of ½ lemon
Start off by blending all the fruit to liquefy.
Now we’re going to add our bowl full of kale.
As with most greens, they don’t consume much volume.
After packing the leaves in, blend for 60 seconds or more but don’t let the mixture heat up. You can easily monitor the temperature by holding your hand against the side of the blender. If it’s feeling warm, you spun it for too long! Just run it long enough to break everything down. You don’t want to have to chew chunks of kale.
In the end, you’ll have around 7 cups to enjoy and share with a friend. If you’re the only one, you’ll probably get a breakfast and lunch out of this recipe. It’s worth it, really…
Sometimes I wish I had some voting software that I could include with these smoothie recipes. It would be cool to get the votes of others are they try them out too. I could envision a five start system. Five being the best, I’d put this one on that five star list!
This recipe is a slight variation of the Kale Mango Blueberry Melon Smoothie that I also just posted. I loved that blueberry version so I figured I’d make a slight change and substitute strawberries for blueberries. Well, once again the melon carries the day and shines through to make a gently complex smoothie that is easy to drink – for it is kale!
I’m looking forward to raspberry season so I can say that I’ve tried all the local berries that I love. Blueberries have a strong flavor and a little bit of grit form the tiny seeds, whereas strawberries add a fresh tartness yet the seeds are softer. Raspberries, I’m sure, will add a grit and a wonderful flavor for they are probably as strong as blueberries.
In any case, the strawberries are subtle and the melon stands out a bit more in this smoothie.
Recipe:
Juice of ½ lemon
1 large mango
2+ cups watermelon
3 large medjool dates
2+ cups strawberries
1 cup rejuvelac
1 large bowl fresh garden kale
Stack it all in the blender and liquefy.
Once liquefied, press the kale in and blend for 60 (or more) seconds until everything is ground up thoroughly.
As you can see, I had a bit of fun with this one. Every morning I shot for about 7 cups smoothie. This morning I added just a bit too much melon so I poured it off to make a bit more room for the greens. It made for a festive glass of predominately fruit smoothie. I shot for ½ lb of greens every day and in the process get the fruit. The fruit is just there to mask the strong flavors of the greens. Every once in a while it’s nice to ‘go conventional’ and not turn all the smoothie green!
Read about raising your pH and balance out your intake. You’ll feel better and be able to focus your energies on what you like to do without thinking about your body not being able to make it.
Blueberries and Red Kale make a fantastic green smoothie combination. I’ve been dogging the kale for months reaching for Swiss chard, parsley and spinach (even lettuce) rather than picking up with vegan special. Yet, on the advice of one of my favorite yoga instructors, I broke down and picked up some kale to give it one more go.
As it turns out, this Red Kale mixes really well with blueberries! I would have never guessed – but my yoga instructor did!
I’ve always reached for the lemon to tame kale, but it looks like there is a match in the berry-world.
Recipe
I can’t believe when I was putting this one together that I totally forgot the blueberries!
1 full bunch Red Kale (stems removed)
1 crisp apple (seeded and quartered (or better))
3 madjohl dates
1 cup dark seedless grapes
1 to 2 cups frozen blueberries
1 cup water
½ cup coconut milk
Juice of ½ lemon (if it’s juicy, else 1 lemon)
1 probiotic
1 serving ORMUS powder
Like most other smoothies that I put together, liquids first followed by soft fruit than harder fruit. In this case, water, coconut milk, lemon juice, grapes, blueberries, quartered apples (or even smaller) and dates. Blend until big chunks are broken down. It should taste fantastic at this point. Kind of like blueberry sorbet.
Next, stuff in kale and give it a good spin. The frozen blueberries will keep this on cold for a long time so blending can go for almost two minutes. When you get to blend this long you really break things down to the point where it’s easy to drink.
Finally, add the ORMUS and probiotic and give it a good mixing. Not need to go long, just stir it around.
I think I’ve found a new way to love kale. I’m also warming up to blueberries.
If you’re having a hard time getting to like kale, try this combo. I believe you’ll find it quite satisfying!
Wow! That cashew nutritional yeast mixture is dynamite!
I’ve wanted to make kale chips for a while now but never really set my mind on it. Today, I set aside time to harvest some beautiful fresh kale from the garden and mix up the recipe that I found on Leiji Turune’s youtube site. Actually, it was under this video and I’ve copied it here.
Because this recipe takes a little preparation, I set a cup of cashews up to soak before heading to yoga this morning and figured they would be ready to go by the time I got home. Lucky for me, they were!
Here is what Leiji has to say about these amazing chips, my commentary will continue below:
Since I mention the yummy “cheesy” kale chips in this video, I thought I’d briefly share the recipe with everyone. Here it is:
Approximately (I never measure anything so these are just approximations)-
1.5- 2 cups soaked cashews (soak for about 1-4 hrs) Make sure to rinse them very well to remove enzyme inhibitors
6-8 tbsp nutritional yeast (not raw, but a source of vitamin B12- good for vegans) Add more or less depending on how “cheesy” you want it to taste.
About 1/4- 1/2 tsp celtic sea salt- I would recommend adding a little salt, tasting it, then adding more or less- You want the mixture to taste not too salty, or bland- just right for your tastebuds
1/2 small lemon juiced
Couple pinches of garlic (use other herbs if desired)
1/2 jalapeno pepper (optional)
Process everything listed above in a food processor until smooth. You want to have 2 big bowls of kale already washed a broken into pieces (basically 2 big heads of kale.) Take the mixture with your hands and work in into the kale pieces- add more or less depending on how flavourful & “cheesy” you want it.
Spread kale on teflex trays and dehydrate for approx. 7-8 hrs at 105 degrees fahrenheit. Leave them in longer if you want them crispier.
Next, enjoy! They are very addictive and healthy! BTW, if you don’t have a dehydrator, that’s ok. You can still use the mixture as a dip/ dressing- do the same thing, where you work the mixture into the kale with your hands and then enjoy! Seriously delicious- such a simple, fast & tasty way to get in those very important dark leafy greens! YUMMEROO! 🙂
So, I set out to copy this recipe.
I gathered up everything that it called for and started dumping it in the blender. The thing I didn’t do was make two bowls full of kale, like the recipe calls for. I tried to cut down the recipe slightly by adding just one cup cashews to go with the one bowl of greens. That, was probably my mistake (the first time I attempted this recipe). When I got everything stacked in the blender, it barley looked like anything! After mixing it for a while, the tamper barely touched the mixture. It was kind of a pain to keep mixing.
When finished, it looked like peanut butter! Having seen other people massage it into the kale, I figured that would work. But, then again, it could be that THIS was my mistake! You see, the wet kale (that I’d just washed) just didn’t want to ‘bond’ with the cashew peanut butter. Next time, I will definitely add water to the mixture until it looks like a think salad dressing (which, is that I did the second time which continues below). I mean, it’s going in the dehydrator so a little more water really shouldn’t hurt.
But I plowed ahead with the cashew peanut butter and Wow, these chips still taste great!
The results from the first attempt didn’t sit right with me. The cashew peanut butter didn’t cover the kale smoothly so it was a bit hit-or-miss with flavor.
But I’ve messed things up worse the first time through. Fortunately, there was more kale in the garden (not anymore) so I got to stoke up the blender one more time to see if I could get the cashews to ‘run.’
I was a little surprised at how much water it took to get the cashews to flow in the blender. Just like the first time, the nuts immediately turn into peanut butter. But, I added spoonful after spoonful of water until it started to flow like a milkshake; a really thick one.
I also added a bit more red pepper to see if I could get it a bigger kick. You know me, bigger and better – until you over do it! Lol…
If you compare these trays to the first two, you’ll see that the chips are covered completely differently – evenly. I didn’t have problems with the mixture NOT sticking to the wet kale for it stuck to everything! That nutritional yeast is like GLUE. I sure hope it doesn’t digest like glue. That would be a bit nasty.
Both times, I made sure to wash my hands thoroughly before massaging the cashew ‘cheese’ into the kale so I could enjoy the best part – licking my hands clean afterwards. Eew you may say, but that nutritional yeast mixed with the soaked nuts just tastes amazing. If I get to making nut cheese, I would probably, most certainly, add nutritional yeast to the mixture. I can’t believe I’ve waited so long to make kale chips!
I’ve now got a number of lunch size bags of chips. You have to be kind of careful with these chips because the ‘cheese’ mixture doesn’t stick very hard. If you bump the bag hard, the flavor tends to get knocked off.
That’s ok, for what sticks is loaded with flavor! This really is a winner recipe! It’s not 100% raw, but it’s 100% yummy – like Leiji says!
