Paleo Cauliflower French Fries, or Cauli with Nooch

Do you desperately miss the taste of a crispy french fry?  If so, you are IN LUCK today peeps.  These cauli fries are in-cred-ible.  They have an amazing french fry flavor, are super easy to make, and are baked, not fried, so no messy grease spatter all over the kitchen.  And they are super nutritious to boot, made with nutritional yeast.  Don't have any?  Get some.  It's inexpensive, and packed with vitamins and tons of protein.  It's not like regular yeast, and it imparts a savory, almost parmesan-ish flavor.  In this recipe, it just tastes deep and salty like a good ol' french fry should.  

Cauliflower French Fries, or Cauli with Nooch

 1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
couple tablespoons EVOO
1 tbsp garlic powder
kosher salt, to taste
2 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast

Put your cauli florets into a very large mixing bowl.  Preheat your oven to 400.  Toss your cauli with EVOO, start with 2 tbsp and see if that's enough, and then add in your garlic powder, about 1/2 tbsp of kosher salt, and your nooch.  Combine well and taste.  Adjust seasonings accordingly.  You may want them saltier, more garlicy, and more noochy.  This makes a nice coating on the cauli and after baking for about 40 minutes the fries will be crunchy and have an almost breaded texture to them.

Seriously, double this recipe.  You will want to eat the entire thing all by yourself.  No joke!

These make a great side dish to any meal.  I baked mine off at the same time as some noochy chicken thighs.  Easy and no muss no fuss.

What else is going on?  Not a whole lot.  I am doing a two-week trial at Pure Barre right now, which I first learned about earlier this year on our Aspen trip.  It's similar to Bar Method, but a little less stuffy.  Not as "formal" if you catch my drift.  I'm liking it, though not as much as my beloved Fusion.  You don't really sweat much, though it is hard as f*ck, and I often feel like I need to go home and hop on the treadmill afterwards.  But I'll keep at it until the two weeks are up and make my decision then!

In other food news, have you ever made shakshuka?  It's an israeli dish that basically is just eggs baked in spicy tomato sauce.  Easy and yummy, especially if you can get your hands on some clean arrabiata sauce.  You simmer your sauce until it's warmed through, drop in your eggs, and bake at 425 for 10 minutes.  Easy!

I'm thinking of making my thai chicken soup again, but this time with shrimp.  And snow peas. Sounds good eh?

Alrighty folks.  I'll leave with you some goofy selfies from this week.  I am enjoying super bright nail polish and clashing weird outfits lately.  Anything to spice up cold and dreary January right? XoXoGFG

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