Kale and coconut are two of my favorite things! One is green, one is white. One is high in protein, one is high in beauty fat. One is leafy, one is dense…okay you get the point. :)
The combination of these two ingredients (along with a few other special ones), make for a powerful, beauty-building smoothie that is packed with minerals, beauty fat, vitamins, and many other phytonutrients. Ladies and gentlemen… introducing my new Kale CoCo Smoothie Smoothie!
Get Your Kale On
If you are new to Beauty Detox Foods, kale is an incredible beauty superfood that is one of my personal favorites. It is packed with phytochemicals, fiber and chlorophyll—a major blood builder, which helps to promote glowing skin and many other beauty benefits.
Healthy blood is a primary building block for beauty.
Kale is also really high in plant protein. It’s actually really surprising how much protein kale does contain, because it’s been ingrained in us for so long to associate protein with animal protein. But oh how untrue that notion is!
I remember when I decided to become vegetarian for a time when I was 13. My mother was up in arms about how I could possibly get enough protein to survive. But low and behold, I came out okay :). Plant protein is easy to digest and assimilate, and helps to build healthy and strong muscles, hair and more.
If you are interested in finding out more interesting things about kale (see note), you can learn more here!
Replenishing Coconut Water
I love the creamy texture and natural sweetness of coconut milk (who doesn’t?!). But today I’m talking about coconut water—which is thin and super light and a great base to smoothies.
Coconut water has a sweet, out of this world delicious taste. When I’m in countries like Thailand or Nicaragua where I can get fresh young coconuts, I’ve been known to drink 4+ a day. I just go for it!
The slightly filmy coconut water is full of electrolytes such as potassium. Potassium is important as it helps regulate the fluid levels inside cells and can help balance the high amount of (puffiness-inducing!) sodium that most of us consume on a regular basis.
If you want to boost your digestion & nutrient absorption, click here!
Prepare ingredients.
Add the coconut water to the blender.
Next, add the unsweetened ground coconut (aw yeah!!) and chopped kale.
Add the banana and mango. Starting the blender on a low speed, blend until smooth. If needed gradually increase to higher speeds and blend until smooth.
Enjoy!
Remember to drink this fruit and water – rich smoothie on an empty stomach to help prevent bloating, as with most all smoothies. :)
See full recipe below…
Kale CoCo Smoothie Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut water
- 2 cups chopped kale
- 1/4 cup ground coconut unsweetened
- 1 cup mango frozen is okay
- ½ super ripe banana
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to the blender. Starting the blender on a low speed, blend until smooth. If needed gradually increase to higher speeds and blend until smooth.
- Enjoy!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was on Instagram!
Note: Kale is one of the beauty foods that made it onto the EWG’s Dirty Dozen list when it comes to buying organic veggies. You can reduce your pesticide exposure by a whopping 80% if you switch to organic when purchasing your Dirty Dozen!
Let me know what you think of this recipe and don’t forget to add this to your Pinterest Smoothie board!
All love,
Kimberly
Kale and other protein-rich plant foods do a body good! Just like me and Bubs, who was built on all plant foods!
Can’t wait to try this! I’m going to replace the kale with spinach until I can buy some more kale.
Hey, Kimberly! I have a question. What is ground coconut? I can’t find it anywhere. Can I grind up my unsweetened shredded coconut? The recipe looks really good. I can’t wait to try it.
Hi Jason, you can use any unsweetened coconut flakes you find. They come in all size and shapes, so depending on what you like, you can always ground them down in your mixture of food processor before adding it to your smoothie. Thanks for checking out this recipe and happy blending! ;)
This smoothie is awesome! It will definitely remain a staple in my smoothies.
Thanks so much Stacy for giving this smoothie a try, and so happy you loved it. Lots of love to you! ;)
This was delicious!! The next day I wanted it again and I had no more mango so I used pineapple and made a pina colada. It was amazing! This is a definite must keep recipe! Thank you, Kimberly!
Sounds great Niv and thanks so much for giving it a try and sharing your experience. Keep up the great work! ;)