Like, for example, yesterday, when I went after a rattlesnake, who fancied the afternoon shade in my flourishing garden. The only flowers I've had in 8 years, after twenty past failed attempts. Although it's not typical of myself to use a garden rake to face such rattling fears (excuse the pun) I'd made up my mind that the new green thumb and horticulturist streak could not be deterred because a desert reptile considered my backyard its native land.
Along these same lines, a few weeks prior, I decided to order a kale smoothie at the Boba spot opposite Kiddo One's University. I'll mention that I've never been a fan of blending salad ingredients into beverage. Even if they're chockful of every single vitamin/mineral/nutrient/ironmanpower on the planet. The green smoothie trend is something no one could sell me on.
But. It happened. In that very first sip of a mega 16 ounce frosty matching my summer lawn, tethered in bouncy tapioca pearls and topped with cubes of fruit. Suffice to say I'm a changed human, forever.
Dog days.
Heat.
I live in the inferno.
And I now make kale smoothies.
Uncharacteristic, atypical and imperatively unordinary to my nature.
Thankfully, the grocery had packets of organic kale on sale. I bought six. Newfound cravings are a good thing, especially when they're bound by healthy choices, but most especially when the person at the register nods at your purchase in approval. It's the most responsible-adult feeling you'll ever have, and not like they'll ever know what the majority of your eating habits actually are.
Today's green smoothie is a wonderfully unfussy project and won't taste leafish in a way where you'd hesitate to blend it over and over again.
The drinkability ratio, of course, is determined by the ripeness and quality of fruit per each cup of kale. A well measured, fruit-liquid-yoghurt plexus can increase the narrow window of consuming and thoroughly relishing blended greens.
My favorite pairing is with in-season mangoes, enough to sync in sweetness and mild bursts of tart. Frozen bananas yield a creamier build, and a beverage that could challenge your favorite fast food milkshake. Throwing in chia is just something I like to do. It not only notches up the nutrient and texture quota, but the inevitable gel-ee helps in a lusher, thicker drink.
You are free to come up with as many variable smoothie conclusions your head conjures up and taste buds likely to agree upon. Packed handfuls of kale together with peach/pineapple, a slather of coconut milk, and a sprinkle of coconut sugar transcends to an island-beach feel. Dates, plaintains leverage in enough substance to be a post workout meal or just so you don't eat that last slice of cake. Keep in mind, kale leaves remain your core component, stick to the remaining advice I've given you, and you most certainly won't end up with anything short of fantastic.
The probability of messing up this recipe is near nil. It is straightforward, fantastically easy, supremely gratifying, housing a bastion of powerhouse ingredients to back it up.
In conclusion, it's important you get this right, understanding how placing kale in a blender can spark as much joy as putting cake into the oven.
Well...almost.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup milk(dairy or non)
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 1/2 cups chopped kale, loosely packed and stems removed
- 1/2 of a banana, frozen, peeled and cut
- 1/2 cup peeled, cubed and frozen ripe mangoes
- 1/2 cup plain lowfat yoghurt
- 1-2 tbsp coconut sugar(or sweetener of choice)
Directions:
- Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed until smooth. Taste and adjust, according to preference, such as adding more milk, sweetener, fruit, etc.
- Pour into glasses and serve.
"Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way." James 1:2-4 (MSG)
