I swore to myself I would not turn into one of those kale smoothie drinking vegans that espouses the virtues of clean living and green drinks that look like something you’d find on a street corner after a busy Saturday night – too much? Anyhoo, here I am, espousing the virtues of kale smoothies and attempting to convince those amongst you who are more than a little dubious of my proclamation that they can actually taste nice.

Let’s forget for a minute how completely amazing these drinks are for your insides. Lets gloss over the fact that they’re nutrition in a glass (blah, blah, hand me coke) and unfortunately possess a particularly off putting colour – yes, I agree it resembles swamp water and seeing as we eat/drink with our eyes that may be an obstacle too far for some. None of that matters though when something tastes nice and this does – taste nice.

I’ll be the first to admit kale smoothies scared the bejeezus out of me. I didn’t want to like them because then I’d be well and truly converted to the dark side – the dark side being the murky drink that be the kale smoothie. Yet here I am, sitting very comfortably on the dark side, kale smoothie in hand and a large grin on my face. These taste nice! Have I said that enough yet?

To be perfectly honest, apart from the crazy colour, you’d never know there was a whole bunch of leaves in this drink. Seriously. The kale isn’t overpowering in flavour either – again, you’d hardly know what was in it. When blended it gives a gorgeous texture too, the perfect smoothie texture – and you know how I feel about smoothie gloop. This is not gloop, I repeat, this is not gloop.

It’s got tang, sweetness, a hint of sourness and the cinnamon stick just adds a beautiful roundedness. In short, it all works. Now, if that doesn’t convince you to give them a shot I don’t know what will. If you are convinced and I’ve managed to somewhat twist your arm then brilliant and…….welcome to the dark side!

super duper green smoothie

small bunch of kale (approx 2 cups)

1 kiwi

handful of frozen mixed berries

juice 1/2 lemon

juice 1 lime

1/2 cup acai berry juice

1/2 cup filtered water

1 tbsp sweet freedom or agave nectar (or any vegan sweetener)

1/2 cinnamon quill

Wash and chop the kale, removing any hard stalks. Put into blender.

Peel and chop the kiwi and also add to blender along with the frozen berries.

Juice the lemon and lime and pour into blender. Add the acai berry juice, water and sweetener.

Break up the cinnamon and add to blender.

Blend, blend and blend until the smoothie is as smooth as you can get it. If you’d like to thin it out a bit add some more water.

Blend some more and serve. It’s kinda impossible to make this drink look pretty – I tried and failed. Good thing it tastes nice!