Pizza Kale Chips

Kale chips are a fun, easy, delish way to shovel in lots and lots of veggies.  I like the plain old EVOO and salt kind as much as the next guy, but when I recently saw a recipe for pizza kale chips, I knew I had to try them out.

Here's the thing about kale chips though.  It bugs me that most recipes call for large quantities of cashews.  I eat enough nuts throughout the week, I don't want to drown my veggies in them too.  I get that the creaminess is needed for that cheesy coating that we all love, but seriously, I just don't need MORE nuts in my diet, trust me!  I get enough as it is.

So I decided to try the recipe without cashews.  It works great.  I imagine even better if you had a proper dehydrator.  But no matter, you can have nut-free pizza kale chips any time you like.

Pizza Kale Chips
1 bag washed/chopped kale, from Trader Joe's for instance
1 6 oz. can organic tomato paste
1 tbsp oregano
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 cup EVOO

In a mixing bowl, combine your paste and seasonings and EVOO.  Dump your kale onto a baking sheet, and then dollop the pizza sauce onto the kale by the spoonful.  Using your hands, work the sauce into the kale, making sure to coat all the leaves evenly.  Bake at 400 until crisp.  This will depend on how much you have, how big your baking sheet, etc.  Took me about 20 minutes.  These will taste even better the next day!

In other news, I decided to get a juicer.  I am primarily a 2 meal a day kinda gal, and I admit it can be tough to get in enough veggies in two meals.  Plus, I am hoping I can get my family to partake too, although I doubt either of them will drink straight veggies like I plan to.  But hopefully with a little apple or some berries thrown in food good measure, I can get everyone on board.

I researched juicers for about a week.  It was clear to me in the end that the best kind was probably the Omega J8006.  But for about $250 or so, kind of a steep entry point for someone that doesn't even know if they'll like the stuff.  Finally, I settled on a clearance juicer from BBB, and I figure, I'll learn on it and see if it's something I even want to do on a regular basis.  If it is, I will upgrade to a nicer one, and if not, it wasn't too big of an investment.

I had my first juice experience today, and it wasn't bad!  Actually, wayyyy sweeter than I was expecting.  I used too many tomatoes and too many carrots, because I was running low on veggies.  But it was fun and clean up wasn't too terrible.  Unfortunately S was not a fan, and spilled more than she drank.  Ahh well.

I also tried my hand at some stevia sweetened chocolate truffles this week, in honor of Valentines Day. Surprisingly, using nunaturals liquid (alcohol free) stevia produces a really decent flavor.  I am just as shocked as you are!  They are in the freezer right no, firming up for later.

I hope you all had a great vday and enjoyed no matter how it was spent!  Hallmark holiday or not, we could all use a little more LOVE in our lives amirite?

XoXoGFG

Lemony Kale Avocado Salad, and DIY Legwarmers

I waffled about posting this recipe because it's so darn easy- but hey, when searching for it, I couldn't find anything like it, so maybe this will be helpful to someone looking for an easy kale salad!

Lemony Kale and Avocado Salad
1 bag washed and chopped kale (TJ's has a great product)
juice of half a lemon
kosher salt
1/3 cup pine nuts
1 avocado
EVOO

In a very large salad bowl, dump your kale and pour about 3 tbsp of EVOO in and start massaging with your hands.  This will take probably 3-4 minutes until the kale has wilted a bit and is bright green.  Do not skip this step!  Then squeeze your juice from the half lemon and massage for another minute.  Sprinkle liberally with sea or kosher salt, then toss in cubed avocado and your pine nuts.  This is a delish salad that you CAN make ahead of time, as the kale is quite firm and won't get soggy very quickly.

In other news, I finally tried the DIY legwarmers for under your boots as seen on Pinterest.  DO IT!  Cut off the sleeves of an old ratty sweater and put them on under your boots for extra cuteness and extra comfort.  It's fun!  I have to careful I don't get carried away cutting up all my sweaters.

Brussel Sprout Chips

This summer we have enjoyed our fair share of kale chips.  Kale chips with salt and pepper, kale chips with vinegar and parmesan, kale chips with nooch, kale chips with sesame seeds… lots of kale chips.

Kinda over the kale chips for the moment.  So on to the next big thing in faux chips!  Brussel Sprout chips are all the rage on the interwebs right now.  And luckily, even S likes these bad boys.

Buy yourself a big bag and start peeling those leaves off!  Cut off the ends and save the hearts for steaming later.

Once you peel off all the leaves, toss in a big bowl with 2 tbsp of EVOO and a hefty sprinkling of sea salt.  Bake at 350 until the leaves are starting to turn crisp and brown.  This will take different times depending on your oven so watch them closely!

I have yet to find a veggie that doesn't get better roasted.  These are darn good though, and make a yummy salty snack.

Enjoy!

Cheesy (Nooch) Kale Chips

Do you see this crispy kale chip, with yummy noochy-y cheesy goodness in every little crinkle?  These are some damned good kale chips yo.  I bit the bullet and bought a big bag of nutritional yeast.  Why I waited this long is beyond me.  It's chock full of B-vitamins and packs a huge protein punch.  Dressed up a bit it's like a close relative of parmesan cheese.  There are billions of kale chip recipes out there with nooch, some complicated, some not.  Most of them call for a base of pulverized cashews, which I neither had on hand nor like using much.  They are quite starchy and fatty without the antioxidants and nutrients of many other nuts/seeds.  And they're expensive to boot.  I also wasn't a huge fan of the quantity most recipes called for- we're talking a cup or more!  Ick no thanks.  Knowing how easy it is to polish off an entire batch of kale chips, that is a ton of cashew to be eating.

So here is what I came up with, and it did not disappoint.  Tweak and experiment until you get the perfect sauce, it's hard to go wrong.

Cheesy Kale Chips
1 bunch kale chips, stems removed (I have found that curly works best)
1/4 cup sesame seeds
3 tbsp GF soy sauce
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
6 tbsp nutritional yeast
4 green onions
1 cup grape tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
juice of one lemon

Process your sesame seeds with red pepper flakes, salt, and garlic powder until it resembles flour.  Add your nooch, tomatoes, green onions (i didn't chop either first), soy, lemon juice, and process until you have a non-chunky sauce.  Taste it and adjust accordingly with more seasonings/liquids.

Dump your torn up kale pieces in a bowl of your sauce and coat well.  Spread out in a thin layer on foiled/greased baking sheet and bake until crisp.  How you bake these depends on a couple things.  Do you have a dehydrator?  How low does your oven go?  Do you care if these are cooked or do you want them "raw"?  If you want to eat them quickly and don't care about raw-ness- throw them in at 325, and they'll be done in minutes.  Watch them though because burnt kale is freaking nast.  If you have more time and your oven does low-temp, try 200 for 90 minutes.  The absolute best way to do these is to dehydrate over night- alas, I have no dehydrator.

Have fun with kale peeps!  XoXoGFG

Massaged Kale Salad with Avocado, Mango, and Almonds

We have an overabundance of kale right now- four different varieties to be exact!  And while that's nothing to complain about, I was eager to try something other than sautéed kale, and kale chips.  I've had some stellar kale salads, but was weary of the whole "massaging" thing.  I mean, a salad is supposed to be easy- right?  Massaging?  That sounds like a chore.

But, with a huge plastic bag full of kale in the fridge, I thought- what the hell.

Some helpful tips- if your kale is homegrown- refrigerate for a day or so first.  It will crisp up nicely in the cold in case its gotten a bit wilty outside.  Make sure you de-stem them carefully.  Kale stems= yuck.  Use more kale than you think you need.  The massaging reduces it greatly.  Finally, use a good quality EVOO for the massaging, as that brings out a lot of flavor in the kale.

Massaged Kale Salad with Avo, Mango, and Almonds
big bag of kale- if you're buying kale bunches at the store, get at least 3 big ones
1 avocado, diced
1 mango, diced
3 tbsp good EVOO
juice of half lemon
kosher salt or sea salt, to taste
1/3 cup slivered almonds

In a large, deep bowl, pour your EVOO over your kale.  Work the kale with your fingers, like you're scrunching up the kale.  After a bit you'll see the color of the leaves have darkened and they've shrunk down by quite a bit.  This took me perhaps three minutes total.  Then add your diced avo and mango, almonds, and salt.  Squeeze half a lemon over and then toss well.  I did not find this needed additional EVOO, with the avocado and EVOO coating the leaves I thought it was perfect.

I would not recommend eating raw kale, un-massaged.  First of all- it gets much more palatable with some TLC.  And second of all, it reduces the amount of phytic acid, if i'm not mistaken.  someone speak up if so!

This salad is a great source of vital nutrients, healthy fats, antioxidants, and vitamin k.  Enjoy!!

Garden Goodness

In late April we set out to create a simple raised garden.  We didn't have super high expectations, and honestly had no idea what we were doing.  But in about 8 weeks, we went from this...

 …to this!

Pretty cool huh?!  The kale was finally getting so crowded I had to harvest some.  I filled up an enormous shopping bag full of greens, and it barely looked like I had even picked anything!

Dinner on Sunday night consisted of probably the simplest, but most amazing and delicious salad I have ever had.  Mixed lettuces with homegrown basil, tomato, and some mozzarella.  I don't think I have ever eaten tastier, fresher, or better veg in my life.  I'm sure much of it is due to the pride factor, and this being our first harvest ever, we were sure feeling proud of ourselves.

Besides the awesome salad, we enjoyed some sautéed kale and fabulous baked chicken.  The chicken was pretty incredible- maybe my new favorite way to bake up a big batch of it.  Just marinate chicken thighs in raspberry balsamic vinegar with salt and pepper for 4-6 hours, then bake it at 475 until cooked through with some S&P, and rosemary.  Simple, easy, delicious, and pesticide/GMO/chemical free, totally organic.

Yay for Team GFG!  Now here's hoping our tomatoes spring to life one of these days.

Do you garden?  What have you been your successes thus far?  Any tips or suggestions?  How do you store all the veg you can't eat right away?

XoxoGFG

Kale Chips Two Ways

I have been eating tons and tons of kale lately, and not even on purpose.  I was in AZ last week visiting the MIL and they have some really great restaurants in the Scottsdale/Phoenix/Sedona area.  Kale was a staple of my GFG Arizona diet, so upon coming home without even thinking I grabbed a bag of kale at TJ's.

One restaurant I had the opportunity to try was ChocolaTree in Sedona.  It's vegan/local/organic and very very crunchy.  As in, dirty hippies with vibrams and dreads talking about foraging for wild silk thistle or some such nonsense.  The meal was pretty good but what I really enjoyed were the cheezy kale chips I bought to snack on.  So I thought, how hard can that be?

Next time you have a big bag of Kale, try it two ways!

Sea Salt and Vinegar Kale Chips
1 bag of washed/shredded kale
3 T EVOO
2 T sea salt
3 T vinegar

Preheat your oven to 325.  Mix your kale, salt, oil, and vinegar together and coat evenly.  Bake for about 15 minutes CHECKING OFTEN because y'all, burnt kale tastes like butthole.  These have that great tangy flavor of those awesome vinegar potato chips I used to love, the Cape Cod ones.  Yummmmm.

Parmesan Kale Chips
1 bag kale
3 T EVOO
2 T sea salt
1/4 cup shredded parm

Pretty much the same directions- but make sure your cheese doesn't burn in the oven.

We had a blast in Arizona.  I was thrilled to go to Sedona.  It is a magical, beautiful, breath-taking place.  The town I wasn't crazy for, a bit too touristy for my liking, but you can absolutely not beat the scenery.  I'll post some pics soon after I've played around a bit more on instagram.

Have you been to Sedona?  What were your favorite sights?  Can't wait to go back and explore it again!

XoXoGFG

Chicken Adobo and Kale Chips

I am the latest convert to Kale Chips!  I was soooo pleasantly surprised by the taste, texture, and ease of preparation.  I'm looking forward to trying them again some time with nooch!  This version of chicken adobo is probably an abomination of the traditional Philippine dish but it was easy and tasted great.

Kale Chips
1 bunch kale (I prefer curly) ripped/chopped into bite sized pieces
1 tbsp EVOO
salt and pepper to taste, garlic powder, onion salt, whatever spices you like

Preheat oven to 300.  Place kale on baking sheet and pour EVOO over, then sprinkling spices.  Coat kale evenly and bake for about 30-33 minutes.  Start checking at 25 min or so and see how you're doing.  You do not want these suckers to burn!

GFG's Chicken Adobo
4 pieces chicken, split breasts, thighs, etc
1 cup water
1 cup soy sauce (if you have gluten sensitivities make sure you are using gluten free!)
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar (or white wine)
cracked pepper
3 bay leaves
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 large onion, sliced

 I marinated my chicken for a few hours in the fridge.  Take them out 30 min before cooking to let them cook to room temp.  Brown each piece of chicken in your skillet/dutch oven, about 4 min per side, and then pour marinade over and cover for about 20 minutes.  To make life easier, I also through a bunch of frozen vegetables in the dutch oven.  Use what you got!  Simple and tangy!