Bananas all too often make their way as the base of smoothies. Berries are a close second, along with mango. This version uses local apples as its base, then adds apple pie spices which makes breakfast taste like dessert (and you can’t taste the kale).
Liquid Apple Pie Smoothie
1 medium sweet apple
1 large handful of chopped kale, just the leaves
6 to 10 fresh honey dates (see Notes)
1 heaping tablespoon (15 ml) roasted cashew butter
1/2 cup (120 ml) homemade unsweetened applesauce (see Notes)
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon (3 ml) ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) ground nutmeg
1/2 cup to 1 cup (120 ml to 240 ml) unsweetened plain or vanilla nondairy milk
Blend all ingredients together, adding nondairy milk to achieve desired consistency, until smooth. Serve cold.
Notes: You can add honey dates to the desired sweetness that you’d like. If you’re using sweetened applesauce or nondairy milk, you might want to omit them altogether.
Laurie Sadowski 