My husband Kurt has been training for a grueling, 3-day hiking/backpacking competition next month.
Since nutrition plays such a vital role in high-performance athletics, every bite of quality nourishment counts. (His diligence has paid off—he has exceptional blood pressure readings when most men his age are on blood pressure lowering meds.)
Yesterday, he experimented with dehydrating a blueberry-kale smoothie and had great success with it. I posted pictures on social media and several asked for the recipe and process.
Dehydrated Blueberry-Kale Smoothie
1 cup water
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 ripe banana
1/2 cup cooked garbanzo beans
1 T ground flax seeds
2 ounces almonds
3 generous handfuls of kale
In a high-speed blender, blend until smooth and creamy.
Line two dehydrating trays with parchment paper. Pour half of the mixture onto each tray and spread evenly.
Dehydrate at 145 degrees for 10 hours. (More trays may take longer. My husband recently dehydrated ten trays at a time and increased the time by two hours.) When dehydrated, it tastes similar to banana-nut bread, in our opinion.
For the competition, he will break the smoothie into small pieces and create a “trail mix” by combining the smoothie pieces with walnuts, dried cherries, and dried blueberries. However, if you have weight to lose and don’t need the extra calories, use only 1 ounce of almonds and don’t combine the dehydrated smoothie with dried fruit and more nuts.
A dehydrated smoothie would be ideal for traveling too.
If you make it, please let me know how your batch turns out!
Update: The 3-day hiking/rucking competition is over, and the kale smoothie chips were a lifesaver. . .a huge success!
Emily Boller, artist, mother, and author of Starved to Obesity, lost 100 pounds more than fifteen years ago by eating an abundance of high-nutrient, plant-rich foods. Today, she’s certified in whole plant nutrition from the Nutritarian Education Institute. She’s on a mission to combine practical, no-nonsense and cost-effective tips—with easy to understand science—in order to help anyone escape the addictive grip of the Standard American Diet. And now, she’s on a mission to bring awareness to the suffocating and potentially deadly trap of eating disorders as well.