Kale Chips!

Every week I am getting another beautiful fresh full bag of kale. Kale is considered a Superfood and websites boast seemingly endless lists of it's benefits. It's touted as a detoxifier, cancer defender, antioxidant and an anti-inflammatory. It's also high in beta carotene, vitamin K and vitamin C (just to name a few). I have to admit though before I started receiving it by the bag full thanks to my CSA box I had only sampled it a handful of times. Most recently, a close friend and long-time vegetarian raved to me about kale chips. By no means do I consider myself a vegetarian but I am attempting to make a conscious effort to eat less meat and more of the fresh veggies that are piling up in my fridge every week.

The next time I went to my Harris Teeter (cue the cheesy commerical song) I picked up a bunch of what they advertised as fresh kale. I came home, followed her instructions and when the kale chips were ready to come out of the oven Andrew was there waiting to sample a few as well. We tasted them. I'm not a picky eater by any means but it was...bitter. Yuck. Andrew quickly scoffed at them and went back to watching SportsCenter. That was the end of kale chips.

Or so I thought. I was a one-trick pony when it came to kale and when I got a huge bag of it from J&S I did what I knew. I made another batch of kale chips. I didn't tell Andrew. He heard me in the kitchen and popped his head in. "Ugh you're not making kale chips again are you?!" Yes, I was. I had a heaping full bag sitting there and I didn't know what else to do! Surprisingly enough when the oven timer went off guess who was in the kitchen to sample another batch? The old man himself. This batch though was different. I made this batch the exact same way as I had with the first. The only difference was the product. I credit the local fresh kale with making this batch (and all of the consecutive batches) delicious. They are crispy, crunchy and a damn good alternative to potato chips when you crave that salty crunch in your mouth. Andrew even asked for a second batch. Success!

Here's my kale chip recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.





2. Take your clean kale and begin tearing it into your preferred chip size. Make sure that you make each piece as similar in size as the others so that they all cook evenly. Smaller ones will burn while larger ones come out half-cooked and gummy.





3. Take your Extra Virgin Olive Oil spray (or Misto - my love) and covered all the pieces really well with oil.





4. Lightly salt the kale with whatever salt you prefer. Remember you can always add salt but you ruin a batch of kale chips with too much salt. (Been there. Trust.)





5. Pop the baking sheet into the oven for 5 minutes. The kale chips should darken in color and feel light and crisp.
   
   
   

Eat the chips soon after they come out of the oven. I think they taste best when they have that slight warmth to them. Enjoy!

Why Hello There, Mr. Beet.

My experiences with beets have never been favorable ones. I usually encountered them on holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter. I was turned-off by the intense fushia color but my Mother always encouraged me to just try a bite. I would but it never changed my mind. Beets were weird. My good friend (and brother's girlfriend) loves beets. She raves about them and uses those holidays as an excuse to prepare her favorite root veggie. So naturally when our 1st CSA box arrived I was wary to find 2 beets resting at the bottom. Fortunately I knew who to go to for some beet advice.


Between speaking with Beth (brother's gf) and extensive research on http://www.foodnetwork.com/ I was able to find a recipe I felt comfortable with to try. Bobby Flay's recipe sounded simple, hearty and heathly. Of course there were some changes made. The recipe calles for yellow beets as well but considering I was experimenting with something I didn't know I would even enjoy there was no way this skeptic was going out and buying more of this unfamiliar root veg. We also opted to cook to the beets in the oven for about 45 minutes at 450 degrees instead of grilling them. The last time Andrew used the grill there were some serious flames involved. We've both been a little leery of using it ever since. Lastly, substituted the arugula for some red leaf lettuce we already had thanks to our fabulous CSA box.

Andrew and I both sat down and eyed each other. Every other ingredient in this recipe were items we loved. Why were we so hesitant to try this crazy colored root veg? I blame it on all the crazy pickled versions we were subjected to as children during the aforementioned holidays. Nevertheless it was go time. The first bite was not my favorite but the more that I ate this salad I was able to pick up on the sweet but pungent flavor the roasted red beet has and I liked it. Alot. I'm sure the yummy vinegarette, goat cheese (my fav), and roasted pine nuts played their part but we each finished our big roasted red beet salad. The next time these show up in our CSA box they won't be given a cautious side eye. I will be able to greet Mr. Beet with a confident smile and a polite 'how do you do?'


The beautiful beet salad!