Kale Chips

I just realized it's been awhile since I posted and it's about time I talk about kale chips. Yes, that's right. Kale chips. They are delicious. They certainly can satisfy that craving for something crispy and crunchy. I've been playing around with a variety of ways to make them.

I saw a recipe for kale chips in Vegetarian Times but it called for a dehydrator. I don't have a dehydrator nor do I want one. I don't know about you, but I don't want another piece of kitchen equipment in the house. In fact, I'm on a mission to rid myself of items that just take up space (but that's another story). I needed to figure out a way to make kale chips without a dehydrator. 

First couple of attempts, I set the oven to 175 and let them 'bake' for hours. It definitely make the kale strips crunchy, but, you definitely need a good 2 - 3 hours of bake time. I also tried making them in a 350 degree oven and they became chips within 15 minutes or so. That makes it a little easier to quickly whip up a batch.
If you are a raw food proponent, then the 350 degree oven with the door closed is not for you since it heats the kale up past what is considered an appropriate temperature for keeping food raw.

I also played with flavorings. I tried various combinations of salt, oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon and nutritional yeast. Kale creates a great blank canvas so I would say play with anything that sounds good to you.

The other thing I have learned is to not overlap the kale when it's in the oven. If you do they will not get crispy, they will stay pretty soggy. Trust me on this one. I speak from experience.

So far my favorite way of making kale chips is to:
Preheat the oven to 350
Wash the kale and remove the tough stems
Cut or tear the leaves into pieces about 2" wide
Put them on a baking sheet. Do not allow the kale strips to overlap. If the kale leaves overlap they will not crisp up.
Sprinkle with salt, olive oil, lemon juice and nutritional yeast.
Mix to coat.
Bake for about 15 minutes or until crispy.

Enjoy!

If you make kale chips, please share your favorite toppings.

Pecan Mushroom Sloppy Joes

I was inspired by several recipes on eatingwell.com to make vegetarian pecan mushroom burgers. None of the recipes on eatingwell were exactly what I wanted, so I borrowed a little from here a little from there and added a few things of my own.

1/2 c. cooked brown rice, cooled

1 tsp. grapeseed oil

4 oz. mushrooms, diced

1 small onion, diced

dash of balsamic vinegar

1/2 c. pecans, chopped

1 carrot, shredded

1/4 c. panko breadcrumbs

dash of cayenne pepper to taste

I heated up the grapeseed oil in the pan. I sauteed the the mushrooms and onion, with some salt and pepper to taste. When the mixture was dry I put a dash of balsamic vinegar and set it aside to cool down.

Add the pecans to the pan and toast until fragrant about 4 minutes. Add to the mushroom/onion mixture. Add the carrots, breadcrumbs and cayenne pepper.

I formed the mixture into patties. They were kind of crumbly and I set the patties into the refrigerator in hopes they would firm up.

I sauteed the patties in a little grapeseed oil and they kind of fell apart when I flipped them.

I served these sloppy joes with a blue cheese dressing and homemade hamburger buns (will blog on the buns another day soon). For the blue cheese dressing I combined greek yogurt, blue cheese and a couple of dashes of worcestershire sauce.

So, they were delicious, but they did not stay formed in the patties, which is why I decided they were really sloppy joes. Next time I try it I might add an egg and see if that helps them stay together, or I may just decide sloppy joes it is and keep them vegan (minus the blue cheese dressing of course)!