Can a Kale Smoothie Go Wrong?

Yes - a kale smoothie seems to have its limits. I'm not sure what made this smoothie one of the worst - it might have been using the Lacinato type kale, or maybe it was using the hemp protein powder, or could have been the two dried figs I tossed in it. It was so thick that the straw stood on its own. And so thick that I just didn't even want to finish the whole serving. Seemed to get thicker as I drank it.

If you want to try this, put in a blender or Vitamix and blend away:

1 cup, non fat milk
3 tbsp 100% Pomegranate juice
1/2 cup, blueberries
1/2 carrot
3 clementines, peeled
2 dried figs
1 cup lacinato kale, ripped up
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 Tbsp hemp protein powder

Serve and try to enjoy!

Rated a 2.9 on the Kale Scale.

Quinoa in a Kale Smoothie?

Yes! Quinoa works great in a kale smoothie. At least with the vitamix, it is blended to smithereens. I used red quinoa, and in the photo, you can see some red flecks in the drink - that's the blended quinoa. As per my last smoothie, I have some work to do to get to a reasonable calorie count with these liquid meals!

Blend as desired - with Vmix - about 1 minute or so
1 cup non-fat milk
30 grapes
3 clementines
1/2 cup cooked quinoa (red, this time)
1/4 cup non-fat plain yogurt
2 Tbsp POM pomegranate juice
3 pitted dates
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1+ cup kale

Serve and enjoy!

Rated a 4.72 on the Kale Scale.

Kale Smoothie with Hummus

After making hummus for my lunches this week, I several tablespoons in the bottom of the vitamix that I couldn't get at. So I decided to just incorporate the hummus into a smoothie to go with my dinner.  The smoothie with hummus undertones - pretty good!  Yet now that I see the calorie count (yikes!), I realize that the salmon, fresh corn and quinoa I made (in the solar cooker) - added up to a significant calorie intake for 1 meal!!

Put into Vitamix and blend to desired consistency:

3 Tbsp hummus
30 grapes
3 clementine oranges (peeled)
1 cup skim milk
1/4 cup non-fat yogurt
1+ cup of Kale


Rated a 4.68 on the Kale Scale.

Lemon Grape Smoothie

And another way to enjoy Kale - vitamix smoothie #8 with Lemon and Grape. I thought the lemon would make it too tart, but seems like I compensated quite well with the other fruit. Delicious!  This one came out pinkish brown due to the black grapes.

Put in blender and blend to your desired consistency (with a vitamix, takes under a minute)

1 cup milk, non-fat
1/2 lemon, peeled
1/2 cup pineapple, raw, peeled, chunks
25 black grapes
4 dates, pitted
2 clementines, peeled
1/2 carrot
1+ cup of kale, ripped up
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Serve and enjoy!



Rated a 4.73 on the Kale Scale.

Watermelon Smoothie

Half of a small watermelon made about 2 cups for a smoothie. The ingredients were added at random from there.

Add and blend as desired (Vitamix took less than a minute)

2 cups watermelon
1/2 cup pineapple chunks, raw
3 clementines, peeled
2 Tbsp Hemp protein powder (Bob's Red Mill)
1/4 cup yogurt, Danon Light'n'Fit vanilla
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp hummus
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup pomegranate juice
10 grape tomatoes
1.25 cups of kale


Rated a 4.67 on the Kale Scale.

Solar Pepper Quinoa with Steamed Kale

Hot weather continues - perfect for a solar cooked dinner!  A present some years ago, my solar cooker still does a fine job.

I put the quinoa, liquid and accompaniments into an orange pepper. I placed the pepper in a small pyrex dish to keep it stable. And this dish was placed in the black kettle that I use with the solar cooker. I also included in the cooker a salmon fillet.

Put the cooker in the sunshine at 1pm. Brought it in at 4:30 pm. 

Mix in a bowl

1/2 cup Quinoa
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 Tbsp, ginger, raw and minced
1 clementine orange, peeled and sectioned
1 Cup water
1.5 Tbsp white wine (finishing off the little bottle)
1 Tbsp lime juice

Assemble

Cut the top and inside seeds from an orange pepper.
Place about 1/2 of the mixture in the prepared pepper.
Place in the solar cooker.
Cook for 2.5 hours.

Serve

Steam 1+ cup of kale for 2 minutes or less.
Place on plate
Put the stuffed pepper on the kale.
Add a dash of Worcestershire sauce.
Eat some kale with every bite!

Rated a 4.71 on the Kale Scale.

Hotsy Totsy Steamed Kale

Quick and easy this was. The hotsy totsy part is adding 1/8 to 1/4 tsp of chili powder to this concoction. But that paired nicely with the pineapple and Ras El Hanout.

Steam 1.5 minutes in microwave:

2 brussel sprouts, cut up
1/2 cup pineapple chunks, cut up
1 clementine, peeled and segmented, those cut in half
4 green onions, white part sliced thin
1 oz white wine
1/2 tsp Ras El Hanout
1/8 to 1/4 tsp chili powder
2 tsp dukkah (the Egyptian nut crumbles)

Add, and steam 2 minutes more in microwave:

1+ cup kale, purple and green, ripped to bite size pieces.

Serve and dust with a bit more dukkah.

Rated a 4.65 on Kale Scale

Purple Kale Citrus Salad

Wanted a quick side salad to go with salmon.  I used organic purple kale. Deep purple.

Toss, layer or mix up, then serve:

1 cup Kale, ripped to bite size pieces
2/3 cup pineapple chunks, cut up
1 clementine, peeled, halve the segments

Serve with 2 Tbsp Fig Balsamic Vinaigrette

Rated a 4.45 on the Kale Scale.

How well do kale and applesauce go together?

Kale and applesauce go quite well together, surprisingly. Of course you have to use enough applesauce, and toss in a clementine and spices to make it so. I was thinking, how could you fit kale into a dessert when one doesn't use added sugar, and doesn't like to fake out with artificial sweeteners? What I came up with was actually a fruit-ish salad, not really dessert. But, it worked.

I used purple kale; it's what I had. I minced it up with my Pampered Chef food chopper. Made a mess of the cutting board. I used 2 little cups of Mott's applesauce - their Healthy Harvest Granny Smith. I added the little clementine with cinnamon and ras el hanout to make it more palatable.

This recipe is for 1 person. A stronger person than I who really, really likes kale, could perhaps do with less applesauce. Despite the rating, I would do this again, it was a super easy way to get the kale eaten.

Mince
1 cup kale

Put in bowl and mix

1 cup of Mott's applesauce
1/2 the kale

Repeat with rest of applesauce and kale

Add
1 clementine, peeled, with each segment cut in half
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ras el hanout spice mix

Serve with dinner.

Rated a 4.49 on the Kale Scale.