Creamy Greens Smoothie

By Cathe Olson

I give a lot of workshops on toddler eating and what I suggest to parents is that you take the food that your child likes and see what you can do to make it more nutritious. Smoothies work great - you can add tofu or yogurt for protein, nut or seed butter or flax oil for fatty acids, and veggies for vitamins. A leaf or two of kale in a smoothie does not hardly change the taste. This smoothie surprises everyone because it tastes so good. You really don't taste the kale at all. This is an excellent snack while breastfeeding because the greens help to increase milk production. Use nutritional yeast flakes fortified with vitamin B12.

1 cup pineapple-coconut juice

1 banana, sliced and frozen

2 to 3 kale leaves

2 teaspoons nutritional yeast flakes

Place ingredients in blender and puree until smooth.

Makes 1 to 2 servings

Note: 1/2 cup pineapple juice and 1/2 cup light coconut milk can be substituted for pineapple/coconut juice.