Green Smoothie

Though I try hard not to be swayed by trends, in fashion, in food, or in general, occasionally I hop on a bandwagon and am really really glad I did.  I have been seeing green smoothies everywhere recently, especially on health and fitness boards and on PInterest, and I thought, "okay, another smoothie fad for the health nuts, no big deal."  And really, that's true.  Green smoothies are a trend in keeping with the occasional resurgence of smoothies and shakes as the fitness gold standard; they are a delivery system for the kinds of things that most people don't get enough of, like greens and fruits.  I tend to avoid shortcuts like that, when possible, because I think eating a nutritionally complete meal like roast chicken, kale and sweet potatoes for dinner is better than drinking a green smoothie for breakfast, feeling nutritionally superior and then having a nutritionally dismal dinner.

But, The Husband is on one of his periodic smoothie kicks and I've been looking for a way to get more bang for my buck nutritionally, so I thought of smoothies.  I need all the help I can get, health-support-wise, because I'm in training for a really demanding run and my body will need lots and lots of support over the next few months to meet the demands I plan to put on it.  I want to stay healthy and run lots and lots and lots of miles.  A smoothie can be a fantastic way to support your body and get some of the things your body most needs to maintain itself.  To be clear, this is a recipe for a breakfast smoothie, not a run recovery shake.  This is for daily nutrition and not for the more specific needs for right before or after a long-distance run. It's just breakfast.

I chose this combo of stuff because it is really high in vitamin C, potassium, vitamin K, calcium and other antioxidants.  It's also very high in fiber.  Yum, fiber.

Alice's Green Smoothie
Nouns-
1-2 handfuls kale
1/2 cup mango chunks, fresh or frozen
1 banana
1/2 cup to 1 cup orange or tangerine juice

Verbs-
Put the stuff in the blender, starting with only 1/2 cup OJ.  Blend, adding OJ to reach desired consistency.  Drink.  Don't be afraid of the kale.  The smoothie tastes good.  Really!