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| 16oz bag of fresh kale |
Kale was one of the
first “superfoods” I added to my smoothies.
I started out with a 70/30 split between fruits and veggies. Fruit smoothies are healthy, but they do
contain a lot of sugar, so it is good to find a balance you can live with. At first I only used carrots and celery for
veggies, with the bulk of my smoothies being strawberries, blueberries, and
bananas. Once I got into the rhythm, I
tinkered with the formula to make them healthier and increase the veggie
ratio. Initially started adding raw
spinach or raw kale. One week I would
buy spinach, the next, kale. I
alternated because I had heard that some veggies contained oxilate acids that
could build up in your system and cause problems like kidney stones. Alternating seemed like a good idea, but I
was still concerned about the oxilates.
Also I was wasting kale as the big bag would not stay fresh in the fridge for an
entire week.
I read that steaming the
kale removed a large portion of the potentially harmful oxilates…but that would
not be feasable to do on a daily basis.
Then I saw an idea on Pinterest that solved the problem – make kale ice
cubes to add to smoothies. This appealed
to my lazy side as I could make up good sized batches in advance, further
streamlining my smoothie making in the mornings. And by adding more frozen stuff to the
smoothies, it made them thicker and colder – good things in my book. I find that the kale cubes alter the color
of the smoothie more than the taste, and I feel a lot better not having to be
concerned with oxilate build up. After
doing a couple batches of my kale cubes, I added parsley to the mix. Reported to be full of good things, I had
been adding fresh parsley by hand to my smoothies. By including them in my cubes, I further improved
my efficiency.
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| Frozen Kale Cubes |
Recipie
Depending on the size of your steamer, this will require several batches – I manage to do it in four batches.
- 2 large 16oz bags of
kale
- 1 bunch of flat leaf
parsley
- Filtered water
- 6 ice cube trays
- Blender/Magic Bullet
- Vegetable steamer
- Gallon size freezer bags
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| Rinse the kale and place in the steamer |
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| Steam for 5-6 minutes |
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| Rinse the parsley |
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| Put kale, parsley, and water in blender |
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| Blend for one minute |
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| Transfer blend to measuring cup |
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| Pour into ice cube trays |
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| Wash out the trays afterwards |
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| When frozen, store cubes in freezer bags |
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| 2 Gallon bags full of Kale cubes! |
Rinse the kale and place in the steamer. Steam the kale until it is soft/wilted, but still a vibrant green (5-6 minutes). Remove from steamer and place in cold water to stop the cooking process. Transfer to the blender. Rinse the parsley. Remove parsley stems and add to the blender a portion of the bunch that matches the portion of the kale being used. Add filtered water so that it reaches about half the height of the greens. Blend for one minute. Transfer the blended kale into a measuring cup for easier pouring. Fill ice cube trays and freeze. Repeat as needed. Store in freezer bags.
When I do this, it yields 6 trays of kale cubes - 96 cubes total. Since I add two cubes per smoothie, one such batch of kale cubes will last me 48 days. Make sure to thoroughly wash the ice cube trays afterwards to get rid of the green residue. Worth noting that other people in your household (kids in particular) will find the green cubes disgusting!
