January 2

The Plan: Curly kale and tofu with toasted sesame seeds served with coconut rice.

From The Green Foods Bible by David Sandoval:
"Kale is by far one of the healthiest greens for your bones. One cup of cooked kale contains whopping amounts of vitamin K, a nutrient that helps support healthy bone formation. This leafy green vegetable also contains manganese, which promotes bone density, and it is also high in calcium. Kale is the top leafy green source of the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, which promote eye health."

Kale is also good raw. Try slicing the leaves into very thin strips, and massaging them with lemon juice, some olive oil, and a little bit of sea salt. It helps soften the leaves much like steaming does. Raw kale salads are great with avocado, too. In the summer, you'll probably see my favorite kale salad: massaged kale with avocado, pine nuts, tomato, and raw corn.

The Recipes:

Kale and tofu with toasted sesame seeds:
1 1/4 tsp sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 cups curly kale, cut into fine strips
~2/3 c. vegetable broth
2 tsp soy sauce (or more)
1 1/4 tsp sesame seeds, toasted
1 block extra firm tofu
turmeric
cumin
coriander

Hours in advance (even the night before), drain and press your tofu. Chop the block into bite sized cubes, and marinate the pieces in veggie broth, soy sauce, and a mix of spices as desired -- like the turmeric, cumin and coriander. (I used chinese five spice, and I didn't marinate the tofu long, so mine ended up pretty tasteless, but I imagine it would be delicious had I thought to marinate my tofu ahead of time)

Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan. Stir frequently to keep them from burning.

In a pan, heat the oil, add the garlic and saute briefly. Add the tofu and marinade. Cover, and let the tofu steam/stir fry, stirring occasionally until the liquid has boiled off/been absorbed.

Add slightly more veggie stock, and the curly kale. Cover, and let it steam for a few minutes (no more than 5 mins) until the kale has wilted.

Serve with the toasted sesame seeds sprinkled on top.

Coconut Rice:
Cook rice according to the directions, but instead of water, use half veggie stock, and half coconut milk. For this particular batch, I added turmeric and cumin to go with the theme of the meal. Yum yum!