Chocolate Kale Smoothie

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chocolate, jenny cornbleet, kale, smoothie

Before I get to a new smoothie recipe, I wanted to thank all of you for your sincere and supportive messages (online and off) and meals after the passing of Marc’s dad.  Our family is grateful for you during this incredibly difficult time.

I am always looking for ways to use the abundant kale thriving in my garden, so today I made a chocolate kale smoothie today that was inspired by a chocolate smoothie recipe I saw on Jenny Cornbleet’s blog.

I’m sorry there are no pictures – it was a brownish-green, so maybe we’re all better off that way – but I can assure you it’s delicious!

Chocolate Kale Smoothie

• 1 1/2 cups almond milk (or milk of your choice)
• 1 heaping T of almond butter (I used raw unsalted)
• 2 frozen bananas
• 2 cups kale (I like to remove the stems)
• 3 T raw cacao powder (I use Navitas)
• 1 T of chia seeds (I used black, but white would work, too)
• 1 medjool date (pitted)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup ice

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend!

I use a Vitamix high-speed blender, which provides a silky smooth texture to my smoothies.  If you are using a standard blender, be sure to remove all thick stems from the kale.  It also helps to use frozen bananas that have been frozen in small one-inch pieces, and make sure you put all the liquid ingredients on the bottom of the container.  You may need to stop and start the machine a few times to get a smooth consistency.

Do you have any favorite kale smoothie recipes? Please do share!

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Raw Brownies: 5 Minutes and Ready to Eat

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chocolate brownies, jennifer cornbleet, jenny cornbleet, navitas, navitas raw cacao, omega 3 fatty acids, raw brownies, raw cacao, raw cacao powder, raw chocolate brownies, raw food made easy, walnuts

We eat a LOT of vegetables around here.  Most days they fill our plates.  But, we also eat a lot of chocolate (if only you could see my smile as I type the word “chocolate”)…

…in chocolate smoothies, chocolate avocado pudding, chocolate chia pudding, chocolate banana “ice cream”, dark chocolate squares dipped in nut butter – and one of my all time favorites:  Raw Chocolate Brownies.

I made these raw brownies (scroll down the list of lovely raw food recipes to find the brownie recipe) yesterday while we had some friends over and everyone loved them!

Like you, I am always looking for fast and easy recipes that taste good and are nutritious.  These fit the bill, so – quick – raid the pantry or grab your grocery list and write down these ingredients:

• Raw Walnuts (second highest food in omega 3 fatty acids!)
• Raw Cacao (any cocoa powder will do, but I love this brand which is raw)
• Dates (I use and recommend medjool because they are soft and process nicely, but you can use whatever you can find)
• Sea Salt
• Vanilla

It took me about 5 minutes to whip these up.  Once pressed into the pan they are ready to eat (slightly warm from the friction in the food processor – mmmm), or you can refrigerate or freeze them for a firmer texture.  And, don’t worry if you don’t like walnuts because any bitter walnut flavor is undetectable in this brownie.  (If you prefer, you may omit adding the chopped walnut pieces at the end.)

This brownie recipe comes from the book Raw Food Made Easy by Jennifer “Jenny” Cornbleet.  If you haven’t checked out the book or her web site, I highly recommend them.  Jenny really does make raw food easy to prepare and super tasty.  I have also made the zucchini hummus and not-tuna pate from this book.  Both were delicious, but the not-tuna pate was strikingly similar in texture to tuna salad and was a delicious component in our “dips” dinner on a hot summer day.

Have you ever had “raw” brownies? If you try the recipe, please come back to tell me how you liked it!