Thursday, August 22, 2013

My Kale Experiment

Remember that time I decided to try to be health-trendy? It happened tonight.

Yes, I enjoy being healthy. Not because it's in style, but out of obedience to being a good steward of all God has given; my body included. I grew up on fruit leathers, gorilla munch, fresh veggies and other such yummies from Trader Joe's. Freshman year of College included a 6 hr course (we were the pilot class) in "Sustenance and Sustainability" with only 13 of us in the class, two graduate-teaching professors and a field trip each week. We read author's like Barbara Kingsolver and Michael Pollan and investigated the evolution and reliability (or unreliability) of organic labels. We learned about the woes of hydrogenated oils (and my friends who knew me then might chuckle at this point because I became slightly zealous about this topic for a time), and began to appreciate the joys and sacredness of cooking and preparing meals with your hands alongside others. I took a nutrition class my last semester of college for kicks, too. Loved it.
Also, can I just mention that hydrogenated oils are so bad that they're something that is banned in some countries and cities. Just sayin'. Apparently I'm still slightly zealous.

So that's a short intro to the health foodie I enjoy being.

Recipe at "Oh She Glows" blog
Anyhow, a quick and easy go-to healthy and substantial meal I like to make is Black Bean Quinoa Salad. First time I made it was from a basic recipe on allrecipes.com. Then I started to change it a little. And tonight I decided to see what kinds of twists other people have put on this basic recipe. I stumbled upon this one at a website that had a whole bunch of other great recipes, including one for a kale and apple smoothie.


I've been working on the smoothie for most of the blog, so I'll let you know how it was at the end.

I've heard kale is great for you many times but just hadn't drunk the kool-aid yet. (Yes, I linked that phrase for my international friends who might read that and be very confused.)

I mean, how bad could it be if I disguise it in a smoothie? Especially since the smoothie had maple syrup in the ingredient list!

Not to mention, it has so many other great immune-boosting ingredients that provide a wide range of nutrients I don't regularly get in my food.

 

Although, I must say, as I kept piling ingredients in, I could help but think, "This just isn't right. These things don't go in a blender.".... and "Wait, who even decided that this was a good idea and tried it?!"

So I've finished the smoothie and the blog and this is where I'm supposed to say, "it was so yummy!".

It wasn't.
All gone


It wasn't bad, either.

It actually kind of tasted like nothing and so the coolness was just refreshing.
Besides, I am mentally satisfied that I painlessly just crammed some nutrient-dense goodies into my body. It also only took about 7 minutes to make. No complaints here.
I recommend you try it. Especially if you're feeling gross and crummy from eating a lot of heavy foods recently.

No comments:

Post a Comment