Kale Smoothie (vegan, gluten-free)

World's BEST KALE SMOOTHIE!

There is absolutely nothing like starting your day with a bunch of kale and ginger.  Put them together in a smoothie and you have heaven, cloud 9, all day. 

Juicer or blender, that is the question.  I don't really understand juicing to be honest with you all.  Why would I want to buy an expensive gadget that takes away some of the most important part of the fruit or veggie?  That juicer is denying you FIBER!  I want all the fiber I can get into my diet so I'm sticking with smoothies.  You might think kale is a bit rough for blending, but with a little patience you can get those large, tough leaves into a manageable, drinkable consistency.

Smoothies; no expensive super juicers or industrial smoothie makers needed.  I have a kinda crappy blender.  The trick to making it work is just be gentle, understand that it has limitations.  That means feeding the blender the kale in small pieces. While the blender is whirling break a piece off, throw it in the blender, break a piece off, throw it in the blend, ect.  Then blend until you have a consistent green vibrant liquid.  There will be small pieces left as you can see in the picture above but more than manageable for the straw.  I often add to this recipe depending on what I have around the house.  An apple or pear is good with this recipe also parsley or mint.



Recipe:
1 bunch of Kale
1 to 3 inch piece of fresh ginger
1 c. coconut milk
3 c. pineapple juice


Method:
1. Rinse kale well.
2. Cut ginger into smaller chunks.
3. Pour liquids into blender.
4. Add ginger.
5. Place lid on blender and begin to mix ingredients.
6. Most blenders have a hole at the top of the lid.  Begin tearing the leaves of the kale from the stem and placing small pieces into the blender.
7.  Continue feeding leaves into the blender until they are all used.
8. Blend on "puree" for 2 minutes.
9. Turn off blender and serve.


Assembling the Mess:
1. Pour into glass or travel container.
2. I often make this smoothie the night before, put it into a mason jar, refrigerate and bring the whole mess to work.
3.Take to work and sip green liquid goodness all day.

ENJOY!