Fiction-Food Café: The Kalenutsco Smoothie

In the metal bending city of Zaofu, after some stressful family confrontations, powerful, memory inducing acupuncture, and a sixteen hour nap, Lin Beifong, the police chief daughter of Toph Beifing, is served an interesting drink by her sister Suyin's personal, ex-pirate chef in the season three episode of "Korra", "Old Wounds" (s.3, ep.6).

Gifs by Rabology.

The beautiful thing about this drink, aside from the fact that it tastes awesome, is that it's an inside joke from the "Legend of Korra" creative team. Writers Tim Hedrick, Joshua Hamilton, and Katie Mattila, plus show co-creator Michael Dante DiMartino, came up with this drink, and put a whole scene for it in the show, as a joke on co-creator Bryan Konietzko who loves vegan smoothies. Kalenutsco, Konietzko, get it? Love these guys.

"Ha! I didn’t actually come up with this. Mike, Tim, Josh, and Katie named it after me and my propensity for raw vegan smoothies. I’ll have to try this particular recipe, though I will likely throw a banana or two in there."

–Bryan Konietzko on Tumblr responding to Rabology's gifs of the kalenutsco scene.

Note: I don't like to chew my drinks so I did some straining through a flour sack/cheese cloth for the recipe below. You can totally skip the straining parts though if you prefer the pulpy/fibrous bits! Also, if you want to add some banana like Bryan mentioned he might do, blend in half a cup of banana pieces to the finished product below, after you combine the coconut kale juice and the walnut milk. But seriously, taste it first before you add banana, it's sooo good as is! If you want it to have ice bits and/or sweetener like simple syrup or agave nectar, add it and zap it while it's still in the blender.

The Kalenutsco Smoothie

Ingredients:
1 Large Handful Fresh Kale, washed, stems removed (about 1 cup pressed down) + 1 sprig for garnish
1 1/2 Cups Coconut Water (I recommend GOYA brand. There's also Naked Juice [no sugar].)
1/4 - 1/2 Cup Walnut Milk* (I used 1/2 cup & loved it. Very nutty.)

Important Items:
Stand Blender or Immersion Blender
Flour Sack Cloth or Cheese Cloth

Directions:

1. Blend together the kale & coconut water until the kale is like pulp & you've got a gorgeous dark green liquid. Strain the liquid through the cloth into a bowl or pitcher (makes about 1 1/2 cup liquid) & discard the kale pulp or use it for something later (like these Southern Water Tribe kale cookies!). Stir in the 1/4 - 1/2 cup walnut milk (taste test to see how much you'd like to add) & then pour the combined liquid into a tall glass for serving. Strip off all of the leaves except for the top "puff" from the reserved kale sprig & snap the stem so that it's a suitable height for your glass. Stand the kale sprig upright in your glass of kalenutsco & enjoy! It'll refresh you from your 16 hour slumber & give you energy to metal bend all day (& also apologize to the appropriate people).

*To make Walnut Milk: Combine 1 cup chopped walnuts plus 2 cups boiling water & a pinch of salt in a medium bowl & let sit on the counter overnight. Drain the water & pour in 2 cups of fresh water. Blend until the walnuts are so broken that they're like pulp & the liquid is tan & foamy. Strain the liquid through a cheese cloth or flour sack cloth into a bowl or pitcher, gathering up the cloth & squeezing as much of the liquid out as you can (you'll have about 2 cups worth). This liquid is walnut milk. Discard the resulting walnut paste or save it for another recipe.