Kale, Berry and Citrus Smoothie {AIP, GAPS, SCD, Paleo}

I'm currently enjoying a love affair with tangelos. We don't tend to eat many citrus fruits, aside from lemon juice which I use freely - adding astringency to salad dressings, squeezed early morning into a mug of warm water, boosting the effects of baking soda in cakes - but my local green grocer offered one for sampling when I showed interest and its delicious tart-sweetness had me promptly pop a netted bag into my trolley. A hybrid of a tangerine and a grapefruit, a tangelo resembles a cute little orange with a knobble on the top and it's worth noting the deeper the shade, the sweeter the flavour. It is joyously easy to peel and, once inside, you will find it has few seeds. But, best of all, it obligingly yields a seriously impressive amount of juice with little work involved. Anyway with so much going on, I'm mad for them now.

Whilst we're on the subject, I guess I should also disclose my fondness for kale. For the record let's just say I will eat anything if it's good for me and, this is the 'King' of super leaves, after all (although you should see this post for the 'Emperor'). But now I have developed a taste in the biggest way. Cooked or raw - frankly I don't actually care - so long as it's plucked from the farmers' market since half its antioxidants are lost within 2-3 days of harvest, so says Eileen at Phoenix Helix in her post 'The most nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables'. Don't go getting nervous about consuming raw kale if you're a Hashimoto's sufferer, just go easy on proportions (as with anything) and read this article for reassurance.

Today's smoothie relies on neither coconut milk, banana nor avocado yet it's still a creamy, satiating morning kickstarter or 'elevenses' and certainly enough to keep the wolf from the door. You have the peach to thank for that. There is also a larger amount of kale in here than you might guess and, seeing as blueberries contain four times the number of antioxidants of other fruits (and 10 times more than most vegetables), there's a good couple of handfuls in here which (along with that fine, ripe peach I mentioned) will ensure your cunning efforts go undetected. The sweetness of the blueberries and peach is cut through, not only by the kale but the citrus fruits like a knife. I'd say a blunt-ish one though, since it is so perfectly subtle you'll have anyone fooled. Seriously!

kale, berry and citrus smoothie
This smoothie is already high on the nutrient density scale but searching out a white peach will elevate it still further. Apparently white peaches have six times more phytonutrients than yellow ones. As ever, add a tablespoon or two of collagen if you're after a protein boost.
(makes 2 large or 4 small)

large handful small black kale (lacinato/cavalo nero) leaves (about 8-10 leaves)
1 cup (5 oz / 145g) blueberries
1 large ripe peach, stone removed and chopped
juice of 1 lemon (2 tbsp)
juice of 3 tangelos (1/4 pt/150ml)
pinch sea salt

Put all the ingredients, together with 1/2 cup filtered water, into a high speed blender and blitz till smooth. As ever, a tablespoon or two of collagen will give you a protein boost but add a little extra water to compensate!