I've just begun blanching my plant-foods (Spinach and Kale) for use in green smoothies, initially to kill the enzyme Chlorophyllase and seal in the vitamins and nutrients.
However, two issues contrast with the previous wash, bag and freeze method I used to use (asside the extended prep time):
1. The yield has roughly halved. I appreciate that the leafs has wilted and become more dense, but I feel like I'd need to buy and process double now, which costs more.
2. The final advisory step of drying out the plant-leaf on a tray in the fridge to prevent water from running into the fresh dish the plant food is destined for, I don't think applies to my needs.
As I usually wash and bag the plant-food into a freezer as soon as I buy it, do I even need to blanch it? I thought that it would be more healthy to destroy the enzymes inside the leaf, but that seems to be linked to the colour of the leaf (of which I am not concerned with) rather than any additional health benefits (nb. some nutrients and vitamins are lost during the blanching process).
Secondly, as I only use the plant-foods for green smoothies, a little excess water isn't going to matter to me, I wonder then if I need to spend the time drying them out?
Finally, portioning out by bag I now find that my costs have risen as the yield is half (or less) of what I would normally get. Spinach is more conservative than Kale, but on either scale I am ending up with less.
Interesting point: If making a green smoothie with blanched Kale I found that if it contains no banana the kale will stick to the side of the cup more and not mingle well to make a well blended smoothie, the same with blanched Spinach.
