Kale Strawberry Smoothie

Now that tech for Thoroughly Modern Millie is over, I can think about life again, and discover what in my refrigerator is about to spoil. Namely, the milk is about to go bad and I have some strawberry yogurt that is past it's date. I smelled the yogurt, did a quick taste test, and it still seemed to be fine, so I decided to make something with it. My more ambitious self wanted to make these Chocolate Strawberry Crepes, but being out of eggs kind of meant that I could not make crepes- or anything baked- without walking to the grocery store. Since we're going to go shopping later, that seemed rather silly. So instead, I decided to just make a quick smoothie. Usually, I do fruit only smoothies (mainly with the frozen fruit we keep in the freezer for just this purpose). However, I decided to go out on a limb and throw some kale in because I know it's super, duper good for you. We always keep kale in the house because it's good for the piggy boys and they really enjoy it, but rarely do we eat it, despite it being equally good for us. Among other things,

"One cup of kale contains 36 calories, 5 grams of fiber, and 15% of the daily requirement of calcium and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), 40% of magnesium, 180% of vitamin A, 200% of vitamin C, and 1,020% of vitamin K. It is also a good source of minerals copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus." (Link to full article of why kale is amazing.)

So, clearly something good to be eating. And the other things I ended up putting in the smoothie are definitely on the "good for you" scale as well.

So pretty before it's all blended up.

Kale Strawberry Smoothie

6 oz of strawberry yogurt
1 cup washed kale
1 cup frozen strawberries
~1/4 cup cranberries
~1/4 cup orange juice

Basically, I just used whatever was handy. You could use more or less yogurt, in whatever flavor you have, I just happened to be lucky to have strawberry. I made sure not to include any stems from the kale because I had a feeling the blender wouldn't have been to happy about them. You could also substitute fresh strawberries for frozen, but I like using the frozen because then you don't need to add any ice. My cranberries were also frozen, since it's not cranberry season currently. I threw them in because they're also high in vitamins and, hey, why not. I didn't actually measure them, but I think it was around a quarter cup. The orange juice I added because there was too much solid and not enough liquid for the poor blender. I would have added a bit more, but it was almost gone (and also past it's date, coincidentally) so I just poured in what was left.

Drink me! I'm super good for you!

The best part is, as I'm drinking it, the kale hardly comes through at all. When I sautéed it and made kale chips with it, the kale had a bit of bitterness to it (mostly cooked out, but still a little noticeable). It definitely turned the smoothy a bit of a funny color, but it didn't affect the taste much. I think this was a very successful experiment and I'll be adding kale to my smoothies much more from now on.

I love making smoothies because they're so good for you and they're always different! I almost never put the same combination of things in them twice and, even if you do, it's never exactly the same because, honestly, who measures anything when it comes to smoothies? They're also delightfully filling and such a nice cool treat when the weather is warm.






Edit: OMG! I just checked my stats and my blog now has over 1,000 page views! Thanks everyone who's reading all my ramblings. :)