Kale Chips

Here's a healthy snacking recipe!

Kale chips, they've been all over the internet lately and I was shocked to see people carrying little bags of the stuff at my local farmers market the last time I was there.

When I found the vendor selling them, boy were they expensive!

So here's my attempt at making them.

Ingredients:

A bunch of kale.

To clean: run the knife down the stem to remove the leaves and discard the stems (or use them if that's what you do - I haven't a clue)

Cut them in evenly sized pieces (bite size sort of - remember they do shrink so keep them a little larger)

- Olive oil

Salt & Pepper

Now that's your basic recipe above. Now go crazy and season the way you like.

I went with:

- Hungarian Smoked Paprika

-A squeeze of lemon juice

- Garlic

- Finely grated dry aged cheese (in my case master's choice beemster - which is a dutch cheese)

Use Parmigiano-Reggiano, an old aged cheddar or any strong dry cheese so it gives a punch of flavour without liquid or gooeyness which will only weigh the chips down (we're not making nachos here!)

Ok so get a pan and line it with parchment (I know I didn't do this in my instructional photos and that's because I forgot the parchment paper on my last shopping trip)

You want a big pan and to spread the kale pieces out.

At this point heat your oven to 375 F.

Drizzle olive oil on your kale, just a light drizzle. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and whatever spices you like. Grate the garlic and toss with your hands to coat everything.

Spread it in an even layer.

Now squeeze the lemon over and sprinkle the cheese (do not toss after this!)

Bake for 12 mins (set your timer!) and then give it a check and finish another 3 minutes if needed. You can flip them or move them around the pan. If the tiny pieces are done then remove them and allow the larger pieces to finish baking until crisp and dry. (they should still be greenish and not brown or burnt)

So the whole pan shrunk down into that one dessert plate. I started out with about 1/3 of a bunch of kale.


I think next time I'll do spices and lemon alone for a fresh version and cheese and garlic for a "comfort food" version.

Enjoy!

Collard Greens?

I'm not a picky eater, I like good well prepared food made with fresh ingredients, however when I ventured out to buy collard greens the other day I had a whole different idea in mind.

Not sure if my mother ever bought and cooked them at home here in Canada while growing up but back home in Iraq swiss chard is very popular and I love the stuff!! The stalks are my favourite part. I figured all the greens are similar so why not give it a try.

With the Collards I didn't know what to expect, but I intended to do a raw wrap or pocket sort of thing with the blanched leaves.

I thinly sliced the leftover bits after cutting out the stalks and saving pieces big enough to roll pockets out, with these bits I fried them up to see how they taste and they were very tough!

Something seemed wrong so I went straight to the net and youtube and watched several videos and all of them said slow cooking of doing a quick cook method but I was not liking the tough texture even after 2 more batches of doing it the right way.

Long and slow seemed the only way left so I decided to put a Middle Eastern spin on it, and surprisingly the leaves did soften up and it tastes amazing! Served on a bed of healthy quinoa instead of rice this is definately a way I could get to enjoy these greens.

Collard greens my way

- About 2 cups Collard greens, washed, dried and stemed. Cut into thin strips (stack the leaves, roll it up and begin slicing with a knife and you'll have ribbons)

- 2 tbsp oil

- 1/2 onion chopped

- 2 cloves garlic

- 1/3 cup strained tomato puree or 1 tbsp tomato paste

- 1 tsp pomegranate molasses

- Salt

- 1 tsp Lemon juice

Directions:

Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the garlic and sautee until transluscent then add the garlic, add the greens immediately and sautee. The Collards turn bright green in colour.

Cover with boiled water and add tomato paste, some salt (not much! keep tasting)

Simmer on low for about 2 hours.

After 2 hours check for salt, and adjust, add pomegranate molasses and lemon juice, stir and allow to cook for another 10 mins.

Serve!

The same recipe can be made with swiss chard, spinach or any other greens but those cook a lot quicker so 20 mins tops and it should be done.