Photos by Rikki Snyder
Hi there! I’m Julia from The Roasted Root, and this is my very first post on Oh My Veggies! I am thrilled to be joining Kiersten, Kare, Meg, and McKel to bring you fun and nutritious vegetarian recipes. I particularly love incorporating root vegetables into my cooking because of their versatility and abundance of health benefits.
As a lover of the great outdoors, I enjoy "bio-hacking" my way through food and fitness, experimenting with new-to-me ingredients and cooking methods in order to optimize my health. I have also been known to balance a hefty plate of salad with a heaping bowl of ice cream. That happens, too.
If you like to party like I do, you'll need to detox occasionally. Food and booze happen in all the right ways, whether a dinner party with friends, a business gathering, or a backyard cookout. We’re wondering how many gym sessions it will take to be able to button our jeans again. Lucky for us, detox smoothies are a delicious way of returning our systems to normalcy.
Hangovers are precisely why the detox smoothie was invented. To clean out the cobwebs, inject your system with immune-boosting nutrients, and right all the holiday wrongs that transpired. Smoothies are a great habit to be in, regardless of whether or not we’ve spent the last month putting decadent, sinful food in our bodies.
Although I do a lot of experimenting with my smoothies - adding various fruits, veggies, cacao powder, nut butters, oats, spices, etc. - I can’t seem to drag myself away from a simple kale smoothie with ginger and blueberries. Hence, I’m showing you my go-to kale smoothie, which is equal parts delicious and nutritious.
All ingredients combined make for a tasty and vitamin-packed kale smoothie that goes down reaaaal nice. There’s a perfect creamy balance of sweet warm flavors, leaving you feeling satisfied, refreshed, and un-clogged. Then you can party again without guilt!
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ripe banana peeled and frozen
- ½ cup frozen blueberries
- 2 teaspoons ginger peeled and finely grated
- 2 cups kale leaves loosely packed
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds optional
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon raw honey
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until completely smooth. If necessary, add more almond milk to help your blender process the frozen fruit.
Nutrition
Nice to meet you and talk atcha soon!
Kiza says
WOW! Fantastic smoothie....great way to start the day!!!!
As mentioned by a previous contributor, I would also appreciate a calorie count for the posted recipes.
Thanks!
Kiersten Frase says
If you need a calorie count for a recipe, you can plug the ingredients into this site: http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php
Mary says
Delicious! I used fresh, not frozen banana and blueberries. And it turned out great! Thanks for the recipe!
Julia Mueller says
So glad you enjoyed the smoothie, Mary! Hope you had a great weekend. 🙂
Jeremy says
Hello - Just tried it out and love it! The combination of flavors is great and it's all healthy! Thanks for the recipe!
Julia Mueller says
So happy you enjoyed it, Jeremy! Amazing how something so green and healthful can taste so good. I appreciate the feedback!! 🙂
Tracey says
May be a dumb question....but do you use this as a one time meal replacement or every day for a few days? I need some SERIOUS detoxing! Thanks!
Julia Mueller says
Hi Tracey - not a dumb question at all! I think it's fine to use the smoothie as a meal replacement once a day for a few days. It has all sorts of nutrients, so you certainly wouldn't be robbing yourself of anything. With that said, I'm not a nutritionist, but I drink smoothies for breakfast in place of solid food fairly regularly 🙂 Let me know if you try the recipe!
Tracey says
Great! Thanks! I plan to go shopping tomorrow. Can't wait to.try it. 🙂
Joanna says
Tracey,you can actually do several or more days on juicing or smoothies ( doc advice is recommended if you do it longer) but use more veggies vs fruit, so you are not intaking too much sugar. If you have a lot of toxins you may feel worse before you feel better ( healing response, release of toxins to blood stream, brain fog, headache, etc) look up books on detox.
Julia Mueller says
Thanks for weighing in here, Joanna! Great response 🙂
Courteney says
Delicious! Tasted like a gingerbread cookie 🙂
Julia Mueller says
Hahahaha! I never would have made that comparison, but yes, I can see how it tastes like a gingerbread cookie! Glad you enjoyed it, Courtney!
Suzanne Legare says
Dear Julia
First, excuse the mistakes I'll make, I am from Quebec and speak french.
Since many months, I was searching for a website that could help me with my macular degeneration ( 2 eyes!) And then I found YOU. Kale is number 1 veggie with his luteine so good for this illness. Thank you SO MUCH for this recipe I drink every morning, Sooooo good! (Do you know there is a restaurant in Montreal offering your "kale detox smoothie?) Give you my best!
Julia Mueller says
Hi Suzanne! I'm so happy you like the smoothie! Yes, kale is amazing for your health in so many different ways, and I have heard the concentration of Vitamins can help with so many different ailments. My grandfather had macular degeneration and I imagine had nutrition been as prominent then as it is now, his illness wouldn't have been so severe. Thank you for your feedback and best of luck!
Zahraa says
Hello!
Great recipe with quite the refreshing taste!
I was wondering however, why yours turned SO much lighter than mine? Any tips to keep it light?
Julia Mueller says
Hi Zahraa, the color is commensurate with the amount of kale you use, so perhaps your 2 cups of kale were more tightly packed, giving it a darker color. I also found that blending the smoothie for a long period of time emulsifies the kale leaves and blueberry skins to the extent that the color gets darker, as strange as that may sound. I'm glad you enjoy the smoothie and let me know if you have any other questions!
Trice says
Not that color matters but Mine was purple because of the blueberries, which I would think would be the dominant color anyway, not green? Then again my blender might not be the best. Very good smoothie, needed to use up my kale, great idea!
Shellyne says
Hi Julia-
Made this smoothie this morning and it was yummy. It had such a pleasant flavor-nothing harsh about it. I have to admit, I was a little afraid to try it at first but was pleasantly surprised...However, I'm curious , what makes this a "detox" smoothie?
Julia Mueller says
Hi Shellyne. So glad you made and enjoyed the smoothie! Kale, blueberries, ginger, and honey are all filled with antioxidants which inhibits cell damage in your body. In this sense, most of the ingredients in the smoothie have detox properties 🙂 Let me know if you have any more questions and thanks again for your feedback!
Joanna says
I'm so into kale smoothies, but i never had this combination. Definitely will make it today - all the ingredients are in my fridge and garden now 🙂 by the way at this moment i'm drinking something new for me as well... I added plenty of fresh mint leaves to my blueberry, grapefruit, orange smoothie - it gave it an unexpected fresh taste
Julia Mueller says
Glad to hear you're going to try the smoothie, and can't wait to hear what you think! I love adding fresh mint to smoothies, and your blueberry/grapefruit/orange combo sounds amazing! I bet coconut milk would be dreamy in there too for a little creamy texture/flavor. Thanks, Joanna!
Joanna says
Julia, i already had it couple times and shared the link. It has this comforting taste to it, thanks to ginger and cinnamon, comparing to other smoothies i make, that are mostly refreshing.
Karen says
I have to say I was disappointed, I could not taste the blueberries or kale in this, perhaps that was the idea, but I love the taste of fruit and veg, great if you want to mask the taste of the ingredients, the milk made it cloggy - it would work better with freshly extracted apple juice and no cinnamon. I drank it but I found it hard to palate sorry - not for me at all.
Julia says
Thanks for your feedback Karen, and I'm sorry you didn't like the smoothie. While I also have no problem with the flavor of vegetables in a smoothie, I find that many people prefer their green smoothies to taste less "green." Thanks for your suggestions - I'll be sure to try your version of the smoothie this weekend 😉
Suzanne says
Love this smoothie Thanks for sharing. I make it often since its one of my faves, but mine NEVER turn out pretty green like your picture. Mine always look a funky bruise kind of color. What am I doing wrong?
Julia Mueller says
Hi Suzanne, I'm glad you like the smoothie. As weird as it sounds, I've had this smoothie turn out both green and purple-y...I find the more I blend the smoothie, the more purple-y it looks. Also, I'm wondering if certain blueberries effect it differently too. Also, if you're adding more than 1/2 a cup, it could be the portion of blueberries. Nevertheless, I'm glad you enjoy the smoothie and thanks for sharing your feedback 🙂
Joan says
It is impossible that adding 1/2 cup of blueberries and the smoothie will turn out light green, no matter how long or fast you blend. I'm genuinely curious and your explaination is not very convincing. Perhaps you can show us the YouTube? Not that color matters but if I can make it light green eye pleasing then why not?
KYM says
Hi... Whenever I use any fruit, such as Blueberries or Strawberries, the Smoothie color is that of that Particular Fruit ('Purplish' or 'Pinkish')... Dosn't matter how many Cups are added... Now, i noticed Mangoes & Pineapples will Always Give a Lovely Green Look, if that's what anyone's looking for... It's just Like adding Chocolate Protein Powder to a Smoothie, will make it Look like Cocoa ('Brownish").... No Mater which Fruit is Added, these Green Smoothies are Delicious 🙂
Megan says
Hi! I'm eager to try this smoothie, however, I am allergic to bananas! What would you recommend as a good substitute?!
Thank you!
Julia Mueller says
Hi Megan, You can try using apple! The texture won't come out as smooth, but I find apple adds nice volume and natural sweetness to smoothies. Also, a little ice wouldn't hurt 😉 Let us know how the smoothie works out for you!
PeaGee says
Hello! I have a question about the use of honey in this recipe:
Does it have to be raw honey, or will filtered honey give the smoothie a different result?
Brett says
Is there a reason for peeling and pre-chopping the ginger? I've just been throwing a chunk into the blender whole. I use a can of coconut milk instead of the banana, and a couple eggs, and some sprouted almonds and cacao nibs, but it's still a ginger-kale smoothie, and pretty easy to drink. I put a little vanilla into today's and didn't notice it in the end-product, but am thinking blackberries next.
Rhonda says
I used the "ground ginger" that's in the spice isle at the grocery, but it's pretty strong, so I only used 1 tsp.
Ross Cee says
My first smoothie ever! Was googling for ginger recipe, and this one has kale - another ingredient my crippled body longs, and I could not resist to blend it ^_^
Thank you for the lovely recipe - used fresh fruits, awesome result ^_^
Rhonda says
I am out of kale!! on no, so I actually used baby spinach rather than kale, fresh raspberries, rather than frozen blueberries, and just added 2 cups of ice. It was pretty good. (And got me through until I get to the grocery store tomorrow).
Renee says
Oh my gosh! I just made this smoothie! Delicious! It was hard to describe.. Warm? Tingly? I will be using this everyday for a week or so. I may tweak it. I used a bit more honey because mind did not blend well and I have sweet tooth....this is amazing and I thought I was the queen of kale smoothie, lol...
Brittny says
WOW! I wasnt expecting it to be that good!! The flavors together are perfect, couldn't even taste the kale!
I subbed the chia seeds for flax seeds
Jill says
Love this but it was a little chunky. How do I get it smoother ?
Ken says
Sounds awesome! This smoothie will be my breakfast tomorrow.
Adriana says
This looks great, but unfortunately I have diabetes 1, and this smoothie has too much sugar for me. Any suggestions on different fruits to use which have less sugar? thank you very much!!
KYM says
Can't wait to try this Smoothie!!! Love Green Smoothies 🙂
Thanks for sharing your recipe.....
connie says
I am allergic to almonds, would it be OK if I just drink regular 2% fat free, with out lactose?
Deb @ What's Cooking at Dinner Thyme says
Yummy! I'll definitely have to try this recipe.
Kia13 says
I tries this minus blueberries substituted with what had on hand cantaloupe an was delicious gonna do this 2x a day an a balanced meal an see what happens