Kale-y*

*Click the title to find my pun--a "ceilidh."

Well, I don't know about kale in a smoothie. I got the curly kind and chewed a bit of it and thought, there's no way I can eat this in a salad, but maybe ground up in a smoothie. The only problem is, I don't have the vaunted Vita-Mix but just a regular blender, and my smoothie has lots of discernible chewy kale bits I chew after a mouthful of the liquid goes down. I saved half for another day, but I won't have it until I make sure it doesn't wreak havoc with my digestion! :-/

BERRY KALE SMOOTHIE

large frozen banana
a dozen frozen strawberries
optional--1/3 cup frozen elderberries (search posts for earlier note on these--don't eat raw!)
tangerine, seeds and peel removed (I figured somebody might wonder)
small handful curly kale, stems removed
tablespoon or two flax seed meal
water as needed

Blend all in a blender and serve. Makes two glasses

Verdict--Good. The taste is nice but the kale a bit tough even after blending. I looked it up a bit on the 'net and it seems that just over-blending can fix some of that. Kale has more absorbable calcium than does spinach (opposed by oxalic acid), so I should try, right?

ALL-ASIAN STIR FRY

2 teaspoons peanut oil
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 small onion
small bell pepper, chopped
1/2 small head bok choy, chopped
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teaspoon sesame oil (the dark, flavorful kind)
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger root
1 clove garlic, sliced
2-3 oz. tofu cubes
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small handful mung bean sprouts
snow pea pods, chopped if desired
2 teaspoons peanut butter
2 teaspoons soy sauce (I looked up Braggs Liquid Aminos and found it's pretty much a health-food-nut unnecessary expense, unless you prefer the flavor, of course!)
Chinese five-spice powder
A few roasted peanuts to garnish

Heat the peanut oil in a wok or large skillet, then add carrot and stir fry a bit to soften, then adding onion, peppers, and the white portions of the bok choy. Meanwhile, in a small skillet or saucepan, heat the sesame oil with ginger and garlic and add the tofu, sauteeing to brown the tofu. While that is cooking, to the large skillet add the bean sprouts and peas and stir fry until almost done. Then make a space in the center of the pan and drop in the peanut butter and soy sauce, stirring to combine, then incorporating into the whole skillet. Add the tofu to the large skillet and stir gently to combine, sprinkling on the five-spice powder (if you can find it in the stores!) and adding a few peanuts to the top of the dish when serving.

Verdict: Excellent! I actually made about twice this much of everything (except the tofu part) and after taking my portion of the vegetables out to add to my tofu skillet I added some leftover roasted pork cubes and a few leftover meatballs to the original large skillet for the rest of the family. Theirs was served with a choice of brown rice or spaghetti noodles or both, and I had sweet-and-sour and soy sauce and extra peanuts on the table. They loved it, too.

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--BERRY KALE SMOOTHIE

Lunch--ALL-ASIAN STIR FRY, locally-grown apple

Snack--3 tablespoons tuna salad (made with light mayo) on two Ry Krisp crackers (I was really hungry after only about 500 calories all day so far!)

Supper--(Got surprised by a spur-of-the-moment invitation, so I did the best I could) 3/4 cup or so of mixed veggie salad (zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms) with an oil-and-vinegar dressing, tablespoon or so of winter squash that I discovered had a lot of butter and sugar in it, half a piece of Italian bread; then at home I topped off with about two ounces of fish and veggies from the POLLOCK CREOLE WITH SPINACH I made the other day over 1/3 cup brown rice and half a banana.