At my day job working for a food broker we use a lot of kale. We display fish on it at food shows, we tuck it around turkey breasts on ice, we make plate displays that sit all day with that perky green substituting for lettuce. Never do we actually think to cook something with it. At the end of the day it goes in the trash. I didn't really think of it as something you were supposed to eat until I read a piece about it in Bon Appetit magazine. Turns out, it has a lot of iron and calcium, not to mention tons of vitamins K, A and C. Imagine spinach on steroids and you've got kale. Because it's so tough, you can use it to cook dishes that would turn the delicate spinach into a 98-pound-weakling. I figured a stir-fry would be the best place to test it's mettle.
This dish was really the last of the vegetable drawer. The kale, carrots and red pepper needed to used, and I always have some red onion and frozen corn. As I cut the veggies, I marinated the tofu in soy sauce and other asian flavors, and added some corn starch to thicken it once it hit the heat. At the same time, I got some water going for Chinese egg noodles. My quick veggie stir fry was turning into a full-on dinner; these things always get away from me!
I turned the gas all the way up on the stove and did my thing, adding the onions, garlic and carrots first, then the peppers, corn and kale, and finally the tofu with sauce. A couple minutes later, the hearty egg noodles got their proper vegetable vestments and a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds topped it off.
When Anson got home I announced I had made him power food, and you know, I think he is looking a little healthier today.
"Spinach on steroids," tee hee. And did I mention I love tofu? Thanks for the great suggestion.
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