On the bandwagon of immunity and ‘superfoods’ I wanted to introduce you to a new friend of mine, Kale. Kale is an amazing addition to you healthy eating plan, weight loss diet and especially to your Healthy Mummy Smoothies.

I know I know, you think it will be disgusting….well not only I do it! Did you see another Healthy Mummy posted her addition of spinach the other day! Yay go Laura.

So what is Kale and why is it such a great vegetable?

• Kale is a great source of vitamin A and vitamin C which are important in your immune response. In one cooked cup of Kale you obtain 200% of your vitamin C requirements and well over your vitamin A requirements for the day.
• Kale contains the most iron and calcium than any other vegetable and because of its high vitamin C content, both these minerals are absorbed easily into the body. If you serve Kale with a fruit with high vitamin C content, the absorption will also be greater. So for a smoothie, think citrus or even berries.
• Folate is also high in Kale which is great for pregnant mothers.
• There are many compounds within Kale like flavonoids and carotenoids which are cancer fighting. Just another reason to consume this ‘superfood’.

Try this superfood smoothie that I prepared.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of chopped Kale
• 1 cup of raspberries
• 2 tbs of Strawberry Healthy Mummy Mix
• 200ml of milk (today I used rice)

This smoothie has 15 grams of fibre (3 grams from the Kale, 6 grams from the raspberries and 6 grams from the Healthy Mummy Smoothie mix!!). Fibre is so important in a pregnant and breastfeeding mother’s diet. Have a read here.

Or if you want it as a side dish, like I cooked the other day below, lightly pan fry some chopped Kale with 1 tablespoon of oil, 2 cloves of garlic and a pinch of salt. Mmmmm delicious. We ate it with some rice and black beans too.

For some other smoothie inspiration have a look here or for some dinner-time healthy recipes have a look here.