Savory

“We’ll make the high-octane version one for you. You can handle it.”

Apparently my new healthy living and running kick was something my Florida cousin was aware of. Hence the famous last words before he decided to introduce me to the all-mighty kale and “green drinks” trend. He had lugged a NutriBullet into the kitchen, followed by bags of kale and spinach as well as informative tips on why drinking your days worth of veggies in a smoothie was both healthy and easy.

I threw my poker face on, added a quick “Bring it on,” and awaited what I anticipated to be a very unpleasant experience. I mean, he was filling a cup with spinach, kale, baby bok choy, Swiss chard, only half a banana, very little strawberries, I think 1 blueberry, and a very tiny slice of cantaloupe. (I might be over exaggerating on the lack of fruit.) And then topped it with protein powder and something called a “superboost” (Chia, Goji, Cacao, and Maca) and water.

A quick puree in the NutriBullet and pouring the green contents into a glass I was advised to drink it like a beer – chug. Unfortunately, as I am out of college I’m a little bit rusty on that part, meaning I drank it as quickly as I could, but didn’t exactly get it down in record time. (I was told the longer it sits, the “frothier” it gets and has an unpleasant consistency.)

And to be honest, with all that anticipation, I was pleasantly surprised that instead of a chalk-like substance, I could actually drink it without so much as a twinge. So, it didn’t taste like a strawberry and banana smoothie and wasn’t filled with ice cream or sugar, but it did get me way more vitamins than I probably get in the average day.

I also learned that kale has more iron than beef, more calcium than milk, and 10 times more Vitamin C than spinach. It’s good for the eyes, skin, helping lose weight, as well as lowering cholesterol.

Perhaps a NutriBullet will be in my near future. Let’s see how ambitious I get.

Make your own with the basics: 2 cups of greens + 2 cups of fruit + water to the fill line. A sprinkling of SuperFood SuperBoost and a small scoop of protein powder.

What was in mine? A combination of:

Spinach
Kale
Baby Bok Choy
Swiss Chard
Strawberries
Blueberries
Grapes
Cantaloupe
Half a banana
SuperFood SuperBoost
Whey Protein Powder
Water

Note the not fruit juice or ice cream. It’s not a smoothie, it’s a vegetable and fruit blend. Don’t add sugar when you don’t need to. You’re sweet enough!