Green Smoothies and Sauteed Cabbage and Turkey Kielbasa

Now that life is less hectic, I thought I'd post a few of the things I've been doing with food lately. I promise, some time this fall, I will attempt to play with the recipe I got from Mom for her famous buttercream cake (not that anyone younger than 28 will remember it, since she stopped making it about 30 years ago). Unfortunately, this was one of the recipes she carried around in her head and made a lot of use of words like "some" and "what you would like" in regard to quantities. So, a little experimentation is order. I'm thinking I may premier it at Thanksgiving.

My yoga instructor pointed me toward a concoction called a green smoothie just recently, and I've been having a blast playing with them. The basic theory behind them is that somehow raw food is oh so much better for you with "live enzymes" (as if these don't get denatured during the digestive process) and a lot of minerals. In reality, the human digestive system is short and not nearly as effective as that of chimps or gorillas, and our teeth are a lot less effective for chewing, especially for those of us who grew up on a western diet, so that's not precisely true. However, the smoothies do get around that by blending up all that raw fiber so you don't actually have to chew! Plus, they taste good and contain extra water, so they have other ways of goodness about them. I thought I'd put up the recipes for my 2 favorites so far:

Peachy Smoothie

1 banana, peeled
2 peaches, pitted
1 1/2 cups water with enough ice added to make 2 cups total
2-3 cups of baby spinach

Throw the fruit and water in the blender and start. Once whirlpool action begins, feed the spinach (uncooked, mind you) into the whirlpool. Blend for several minutes until a smooth consistency. Drink!

This will around a quart of smoothie, and you will probably want to stretch it out over the early day, or share it with someone.

Apple Lime Smoothie

1 banana, peeled
1 Honey Crisp bon voyage size apple (or 2 small apples), cored
1/2 lime (skin and all)
1 1/2 cup water with enough ice added to make 2 cups
2-3 cups of baby spinach (good with callaloo also)

Prepare as for the first one. Makes a similar quantity, and is a lovely sweet-sour flavor.


For those who like their food cooked, here is a quick and dirty version of my cabbage and kielbasa. I devised this one day to get rid of stuff in the fridge, and it was so good I kept it around as a recipe.

Cabbage and Kielbasa

3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup diced onion
1/3 cup diced bell pepper
1 large portabello mushroom (or other non-boring mushroom), coarsely chopped
1 package angel hair sliced cabbage
1 turkey kielbasa, sliced to rounds
1/2-1 tbsp each Worcestershire sauce, blush balsamic vinegar and Sriracha

Over medium-low heat, heat oil until garlic starts to cook, then add onion, pepper and mushroom. Saute for 2-3 minutes and then add the keilbasa. Saute until the vegetables soften. Add the cabbage and the sauces. Saute for a couple of minutes on the stove until the cabbage begins to wilt and everything is well mixed. Serve.

You can vary the sauces to taste, but be cautious with the Sriracha--too much and your mouth is on fire!

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