Sour Apple Kale Smoothie

Prep Time: 3 Minutes                         Cook Time: 0 Minutes                       Add to MyFitnessPal

I'm not shy about the fact that I simply cannot stand the taste, the texture, or the overall savor of raw kale. Don't get me wrong, I know it's good for me, and I absolutely LOVE it wilted in a stir fry, pickled next to a sandwich, or mixed into soups and stocks. But raw? BLECH!

I've tried dressing it up in acidic salad dressings to soften the texture, I've massaged it, I've blended it, I've juiced it, I've even tried deeping meaningful conversation with it to improve our relationship. All to no avail.


Hey, that's actually pretty darned good!

Until now. Completely by accident, while attempting to make a magnesium nutrient slurry for the garden I discovered this incredible sour apple kale smoothie. Give it a try, I think you'll be as surprised as I was how delicious raw kale can actually be when a little home chemistry is applied.

Ingredients:
Kale, chopped - 1/2 cup (roughly 1/2 large leaf) - I recommend Nero toscano/'dino' kale if you can find it for a milder taste. Red Russian winter kale also works well but is stronger in flavor.
Banana, frozen - 1/4 banana
Magnesium Citrate Powder, berry flavor - 1 tsp
Stevia - to taste

Now, I know what you're saying: "sour apple? What sour apple? I just read that ingredients list and you've got berries, banana, and kale. That's not even remotely sour apple!!" Well, you're right, none of those ingredients, on their own, will taste anything like sour apple. But the bitterness of the kale is a shockingly good proxy for the bitterness of a sour apple, the tart from the berry powder is a great approximation of sour apple and the isoamyl acetate (the primary flavor in the banana) when mixed with the citric and malic acids of the berry extract happens to react to form methyl butyrate - the primary flavor compound in an apple. Thus, sour apple!

As for your magnesium citrate - I have been using, and loving the brand below to supplement my magnesium intake to help with recovery from a workout (clearing lactic acid from sore muscles) and improving my flexibility. It also helps if you're having any issues with bowel motility, a common problem amongst bariatric patients.

Gotta love all those untested, FDA-unapproved claims on the tub.

Preparation:
Pop everything but the stevia into the blender. Turn the blender on high. add a little bit of water to reach the desired consistency. Taste, adjust sweetness/tartness by adding stevia. Only add a little at a time, you can always add more but you can't every remove it once it's in there.

I usually just use this as a way to get Kale in while recovering from a particularly strenuous workout after I've had some protein. But if you're craving some protein in your smoothie, feel free to add some unflavored protein powder and adjust your nutrient tracking.  I don't care for this smoothie with the protein mixed in - creamy apple is not my thing - but my chef neighbor (I should really name him) is a big fan. Try it, see if you like it.

Nutrition:
Calories: 44
Fat: 0.5 g
Carbs: 10 (mostly fiber)
Protein: 2 g
Sodium: 13 mg
Vit A: 67% of DV
Vit C: 72% of DV