Refreshing Kale Mint Smoothie

 

A friend of mine just gave me the largest bag of kale you have ever seen.  It is probably the equivalent to 8 bunches of kale if I had bought them at the grocery store.  Her husband is of the super gardening type and manages to keep fresh produce coming all through winter while most of us give up and let the weeds take over until spring.  I took it on to try and use all of this splendid kale and not just in the normal, add it to a saute or soup kind of cooking.  I decided some smoothies were in order.

I discovered a kale "mojito" smoothie in Brendan Brazier's new vegan cookbook, the Thrive Energy Cookbook.   It sounded tasty, but came out more watery and less filling than I would have liked, so I modified it for my own tastes.

Kale Mint Smoothie

serves 1 very generously

2 big handfuls kale leaves, stems removed

small handful mint leaves

zest and juice from 1 lime

1 banana

3/4 cup unsweetened almond/coconut milk (or other non-dairy beverage)

1 Tablespoon shredded coconut

2 teaspoons maple syrup or skip if your shredded coconut or milk is sweetened

1 cup ice

Combine all ingredients except ice in your blender.  Blend well.  Add ice and blend on highest speed.  The more you blend, the less kale bits you will have.  Very refreshing!

 

This morning I made another kale smoothie but instead of the mint, lime, and lime juice, added 1 cup frozen blueberries and 1 Tablespoon almond butter.  Equally delicious!