Refreshing Vegan Kale Smoothie Recipe

This smoothie is gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and pretty yummy, if I do say so myself (as far as kale smoothies go - let's be real, it's no chocolate cake)!

I made this smoothie this morning because I need to love my body more. She's dealt with a lot, endured so much suffering at the hands of these chronic diseases, and is still going for me. Lately, I haven't been treating her well because as an emotional eater with disordered eating issues, I have been coping with the huge waves of change that's been happening in the world and in my personal life during this Covid-19 Pandemic by eating all the comfort foods that I'm allergic or sensitive to.

Aspects about this pandemic (such as the way that it's really highlighted how ableist our society is) have been taking a deep emotional and psychological toll on many of us in the chronic illness community, my home life has changed because of it (instead of living alone, my husband is now living here for the first time, which has drastically changed my energy expenditure), and I've been dealing with the grief of the death of someone who is very important to me.

That means I've been stuffing my face with all the things that my body can't tolerate well, going very heavy on the wheat, dairy, and sugar. But it's time to invest back into my wellbeing, show my body some love and respect, and fuel it with nourishing foods that are safe me and that don't trigger symptoms.

That brings us to this smoothie, made especially because the bunch of kale we had in the fridge was starting to go bad and get that funky smell lol. I'm not a pro smoothie-maker, wasn't quite sure how this would turn out, but I REALLY ENJOYED IT! It was refreshing and tasted good to me.

Here are the ingredients (measurements are very approximate, adjust based on personal taste preference):

• kale - approx 4 stalks/leaves with the stems removed (to go in the compost)
• 1/4 of a ripe avocado
• 3 dates
• 1-2 tablespoon of almond butter
• 1 banana (pre-cut into slices that were frozen)
• unsweetened oat mylk - approx 375 ml?
• approx 2 rounded teaspoons of hemp hearts
• organic gluten-free oats - about 1 or 2 heaping tbsp?
• some cold water (add as needed to get the right consistency)
• two handfuls of ice cubes
• a tiny splash of organic maple syrup

I blended everything together in my Ninja blender until it was smooth. Don't be afraid to let this run for a while so that it does get as smooth as possible, and I just add ice cubes to combat any heat that the blender might generate. I like my smoothies ice cold!

And then I poured it into a tall mason jar (because that sparks joy in me) and added a reusable straw. Enjoy!