Misadventures with kale :(
February 7, 2010 | Posted by Annette @ Wellness WA 
I mentioned in my previous post that I bought a bunch of organic kale for $2.50, the reason being that many of my health loving internet friends tout kale as one of the most important vegetables that you can whiz up into a healthy green smoothie.
I like me some green smoothies so away I went, kale in hand & put about 7 stalks in the blender with some water, apple juice and a banana, which is my usual go-to with spinach instead of kale.
The first thing I noticed was that my blender wasn’t hearty enough to quickly whiz up the kale. It’s a tough critter and took about a minute on high before it started working properly.
Secondly, when all was blended and done… the taste.
Oh dear. Apparently you’re meant to slowly work up to bunches of kale in smoothies, starting out with a couple of leaves at first. It was very bitter and extra apple juice didn’t help. I felt like throwing up due to the intense taste!
Kale smoothie mission = FAIL.
So learn from my mistakes, next time I will do the following:
– Use only a couple stalks of washed, organic kale
– Break it into pieces before blending
– Add some frozen blueberries/blackberries to sweeten it up
Dear kale smoothies,
I can’t stop thinking about you. I know it didn’t work out the first time between us, but I think if we spend a little time apart thinking about what we both want out of the relationship, then maybe we can be together…
Yours hopefully,
Annette
Be well,
xoxo
Categories: Food, Wellness Tips | 
Tags: Features | 
7 Comments »
Awwwww – bummer about the smoothie. Kale is so wonderful and indeed rocks the house! Sounds like you have a plan for making it better though. Bananas and/or mango are great fruits for green smoothies because not only do offset the bitterness of the kale nicely, but they make the smoothie creamy. 🙂
Cheers,
Kristen
Hi Kristen!
I’ve never really tried mango in my smoothies before… I always brush over it when I’m buying frozen fruits, but you may just have inspired me to do try it out.
Thanks so much for stopping by, I’ve been aware of your blog and reading it on and off for a couple of years now so I feel a little bit humbled that you’ve left a comment on mine *dork*
xo
Annette
I just bought some kale for the FIRST TIME yesterday!! I tried in my smoothie today – one stalk though – and it was okay. I’m gonna put some berries in tomorrow to sweeten up more, on your advice 😀 I hope it turns out nice!
Heather xo
P.s. How pretty is kale? I love the shape of the leaves! It looks nice in salads and things I think.
Hi!
Where did you get your kale from? I haven’t seen it around for a little while but I haven’t really been looking I guess, after my experience ;D
Frozen berries make everything about a smoothie better – yum!
I bought some spinach Tonight so I’m going to have a green smoothie Tomorrow morn – yay! xx
PS. It is a pretty interesting shape! My mind deciphers it as “Oh no, it’s hard to clean” though, instead of pretty hehe!
I got my kale from my local IGA (Nedlands) and it was the only bunch there – just quietly waiting for me to come and take it home I expect 🙂 I will definitely add some berries to my next smoothie to sweeten it up a little. I know what you mean about cleaning it haha but still, the prettiness makes it worth it 😉 also, the fact that its new and exciting makes it a novelty for me at the moment hahaha mannn I like these green leafy things too much! xx
I might be 10 months behind, but my girl left one of your articles open and I saw the link about kale.
Kale is (second) the easiest thing I have ever grown and it is *prolific*. I have three of those bad boys in the veggie path at the moment and they seem immune to all the pests that usually attack my brassicas. And like you said, they look awesome! Like green crushed velvet fountain. I got the seeds from a local soil place. Give it a shot! (For those playing at home, the easiest thing to grow is silverbeet).
While I haven’t tried a kale smoothie (and probably won’t after reading your article), I can definitely recommend just lightly steaming it, with the thick stalks cut out, with a little fresh butter over it and sprinkled with fresh basil (pinch of salt if you *have* to). Kale and basil – killer!