What's the best way to store lots of kale to use for smoothies?

Question

I am going to start making kale smoothies and wish to buy a couple bunches of kale at a time. Here's my thought - I was thinking of taking the kale, perhaps blending it with some roots/veggies at a high concentration (maybe adding some green tea or some water to the blender), then pouring this concentrated kale solution into ice cube trays. When it's time to make the smoothie, I would take a few of the "kale cubes" and blend it with, maybe orange juice or some other liquid. Does anyone have any better ideas for keeping kale fresh for a long time - and by long time, I mean around 2 weeks. Ideally, I would want a solution like the one I describe above - it's efficient and quick to make a smoothie doing it this way.

And one other question - does kale (or any veggies for that matter) lose nutrients when blended and frozen?

Answer 1

The party line from Still Tasty is to:

• Cut out the stems, wash, and blanche for about 2 minutes
• Dry
• Store in freezer bags with as little air as possible

They indicate you will get about a year of storage from this method.

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That being said, the method you propose is well known for herbs, and kale is certainly much heartier than an herb. It should work very well, given that the application is a smoothie and you don't mind having the kale pureed already. It should keep the kale usable for a year or so as well.

So the main issue with the traditional method is, are you willing to blanche your kale? I know not everyone is.

If you use kale for other dishes and have to blend your daily smoothie anyway, you might use the standard method, and store it in daily sized batches, thus giving you the ability to use it for either a smoothie or some other dish.

Answer 2

Your existing solution is the best I know of.

1. It preserve the vegetables (or fruit) for a long time. 2 weeks are impossible at room temperature.
2. You also get them frozen at the time of making the smoothie. Assuming that you want a cool smoothie, starting with half the mass frozen is very beneficial, because the blender heats the ingredients while pureeing them.
3. It also allows you for a consistent recipe. If, for example, you want to have 10% papaya, it is easier to pre-blend and freeze mixed fruits than to measure out a piece of papaya every day.
4. It allows for efficiency. Cleaning fruit and vegetables can take a long time, but the effort per weight unit is reduced when you do it in bulk.

So, go ahead and freeze the puree. You can leave out fruit or vegetables which are easier to use fresh (e.g. bananas, which are quickly cleaned, or apples, which are durable). Throw the fresh, room-warm ingredients together with the liquid and the frozen part in the blender.

By the way, I use silicone muffin moulds for freezing. The amount in one is better suited for half a large smoothie, and it is easier to pop the frozen puree out of them. You need some free space and a tray to start them, but once the puree has hardened, you can throw them around without deformation. You can also remove the cups (to use them for muffins) and store the fruit pucks in a bag.