Drinking My Salad? No, Thank You

“Some days I think I would like to be the kind of person that enjoys kale smoothies. Alas, I am not, and that is OK.” That was my Facebook status update yesterday. It came on the heels of being in Whole Foods with a bunch of other people, following an exercise class at Pure Barre in Fort Lauderdale (more on that at a later time). As I perused the smoothie menu, and a woman finishing her transaction spilled her piping hot coffee all over the place, but somehow missed my feet, I thought to myself  said out loud to one of the other bloggers in our group “I just don’t see why I would drink kale when I could drink, oh, anything else.” The thing is, I like kale. I like kale salad, sauteed kale with garlic, and especially fried, crispy kale (which I understand defeats the whole purpose of the kale in the first place.) But I just don’t understand why some folks feel the need to drink it. I certainly don’t understand how so many people indulge that it has become a standard smoothie choice.

I will admit, in my quest to be healthy  thinner, I have cut out calorie laden beverages, except wine. And the occasional brunch cocktail. And more wine. But no soda for me. A smidge of skim milk in my coffee is as fattening as it is getting (until the wine with dinner). That has also meant no smoothies. I did cave today because (a) I was being social and (b) in a shocking twist, I managed to skip lunch.

The whole kale-or-berry discussion got me thinking… (yes, go ahead and cringe now)… You know what would make a killing? Wine smoothies. Wine, perhaps a little fruit, and ice. Like sangria, but in smoothie form. Then we could all walk around Whole Foods (or wherever) in our yoga pants, drinking our smoothies, and while all the actual yoga doers enjoy kale, we get to have wine! Better yet, if I had a wine smoothie, I bet I would have enjoyed that hot yoga class a bit more.

Many readers do enjoy a green smoothie, and that is wonderful. Go, good health! But I can safely say, that when there is another option on the table, I’m going to to go with it. What do you think? How do you use kale? Or do you just skip it altogether? I’m going to grab a nice kale salad and a glass of sauvignon blanc.