How To Make the Perfect Kale Smoothie

It seems like you can’t pass by a juice bar these days without seeing some form of kale offering.

Kale is super trendy for good reason, it’s brimming with nutrients!

Kale is not a delicate green like lettuce or spinach, if not prepared properly it could leave you reeling from it’s pungent aroma or with a mouthful of it’s fibrous, tough leaves to chew on!

Follow these tips and you’ll not only enjoy a tasty smoothie but also you’ll be infusing your body with a wide array of heath enhancing nutrients.

Cut off the thick centre stem. The stem is really thick and tough, it doesn’t usually get included in a smoothie or in cooking.

Wash the kale leaves. If it’s not organic, add a cupful of white vinegar to a sink full of water, let the kale leaves soak for 10 minutes to remove some of the pesticide residue. Rinse, then spin in a salad spinner to get most of the water out. Pat dry with a paper towel, then store in zip lock bags in the fridge or freezer for future use. 

Tip: Storing your greens in a ziplock bag with a paper towel absorbs the excess moisture that seeps out of the leaves. This trick will extends the life of your greens and keep it fresh in the fridge longer.

Freeze the kale before blending.  Not only will you get more leaves into your smoothie, you can also save a lot of money by buying kale in bulk and then freezing it.

Tip: Frozen kale is a great way to add more nutrition to any meal. All you need to do is take the frozen kale (straight from the freezer) in its baggie and smash it with your hand or rolling pin. The frozen fragile leaves easily crushes up.  You can then stir it into an array of meals… such as soups, casseroles, rice, beans, etc. It is a lot easier than finely chopping up kale with a knife.

Frozen berries go especially well with kale to balance out its earthy flavour.

Any fruit will add some sweetness that will  balance the slight pungent flavour of kale. I’ve experimented with several.  The following fruits in any combination is sublime with kale – green grapes, kiwi, pear, pineapple, lime, mint leaves and banana.   Don’t blame kales pungent aroma too much since the reason for it’s strong flavour comes from the natural sulphur compounds, which give kale it’s detoxifying benefits.

Invest in a VitaMix Blender. The cell walls of kale are very tough for a low quality blender to break apart. I would highly recommend VitaMix blender, that’s what I’ve been using almost every day for over 12 years and it’s still as powerful as ever.  This blender will pulverize through those tough cell walls to extract the nutrients from within, and also you do not have to chew on pieces of kale while drinking a smoothie.

If you’re using a low- power blender, blend the greens with half of the liquid first. Then, add the rest of the liquid with the fresh and frozen fruit and blend again.

When blending with kale, froth may form at the top. To prevent the foam from forming, blend frozen fruit and/or ice into the smoothie.

After a kale smoothie sits for a while, the smoothie starts to thicken up into a gel-like consistency. For that reason, drink your kale smoothies soon after blending. If you need to save a smoothie in the fridge make a spinach smoothie instead, as spinach doesn’t cause gelling up like kale does.

The Green Magic Smoothie

The magic come from the chlorophyll-rich ingredients which cleanses and refreshes as it fills the body with an infusion of some of nature’s most powerful nutrients – beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, calcium, magnesium, antioxidants and detoxifying sulphur compounds.  After drinking this sublime tasting green smoothie, your skin will glow and the rest of your body from your heart to your bones and your liver to your bowels will thank you!

serves 2 to 4

Ingredients:

2 cups chopped kale leaves

2 cups chopped lettuce

2 cups cucumbers, sliced

1 pear, cored and chopped

2 kiwi, peeled and sliced

1 cup green grapes

1 lime, peeled and chopped

½ inch ginger, chopped finely

2 cups water

Some ice, if desired

Method:

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend for 30 seconds to 1 minute until smooth.  Add more water or ice to achieve the desired consistency.  Enjoy!