Mint Green Avocado Kale Smoothie

I wish I could have this smoothie for breakfast every day... no, wait: I can! Yay! (Well, as long as we get avocados, anyway; we grow our own kale and spinach pretty much all year round. ) I was bored with eating my greens, so I decided to drink them raw instead. Just to ensure a garden-fresh taste, I threw in some spearmint and lemon balm leaves from the pots on our patio. This smoothie is unusual but delicious, and full of alkalising and nutrient-dense greens. Don't let the fact you don't own a high speed blender put you off green smoothies; I made this one using a Magimix food processor- it just takes a little more time, that's all. This recipe makes one large green smoothie; I shared mine but could quite easily have polished off the lot.

Half a small, ripe Hass avocado

30g approx. (a large handful) fresh kale and/ or spinach

2 medium kiwis

4 dried dates, chopped

a small handful of fresh spearmint and lemon balm leaves

1 tab lemon juice

200ml water

• If you have a high speed blender like a Vitamix or Blendtech, just throw everything in and you're done.
• If, like us, you own a slower blender or a food processor, put in everything but the lemon juice and water and blend until you get a paste.
• Add the lemon juice and water and keep it running until all those little dark green flecks get smaller and smaller and almost disappear. This might take a few minutes, but then you're done.