After an indulgent summer, and a few rounds of fried food
between the OC Fair and the fish shacks along Route 6 in Cape Cod, this
smoothie is the perfect energy booster. I can’t think of an easier, or tastier
way, to get two cups of kale into my body in record time. Frozen blueberries
are the trick to keeping this smoothie icy cold without watering it down, which
is what plain old ice cubes would do. It does need a little liquid to help
puree everything. I used some fresh squeezed OJ in an effort to keep it
dairy-free, but you can use yogurt or milk if you want to add a protein punch
to it. A spoonful of flaxseeds would be great too; I just didn’t have any in my
vacation pantry.
If you want to make a vegan version, just swap in agave nectar
for the honey. I’m thinking maple syrup might be nice too, but I haven’t tried
that yet. I do recommend using some sort of sweetener, though, to temper the
tartness of the berries and earthy taste of the kale. As-is, this blueberry
kale smoothie was a home-run with my five-year old.
One last
note—you don’t need a fancy high-powered blender to whip up this smoothie
(though that’ll make the job faster, no doubt). I made this using a 350 watt
Black & Decker blender I found in the vacation cottage we rented. No crazy
motors, or bells and whistles. I did have to stop every minute or so, and push
the ingredients down with a wooden spoon, but that didn’t discourage me in the
least.
blueberry kale smoothie
makes one cup
2 cups packed (95 grams) kale leaves
1 1/2 cups (180 grams) frozen wild blueberries
Freshly squeezed juice of 1 plump navel orange
1 tablespoon (21 grams) honey
Add all of the ingredients to the bowl of a blender. Cover, and
pulse to break down the kale. Turn the blender onto high, and process until
pureed.
