Kale Chips

At 9:30 tonight I decided to make kale chips.  Wasting food drives me insane and the bunches of kale I had in my fridge were starting to wilt.  Worried that it wasn't going to last much longer I thought, eh, why not make some kale chips real quick and now at 10:12 p.m. I am sitting here, munching on my baked goods alongside a can of ice cold seltzer.  Despite the time, I am thoroughly enjoying my late night snack.

What you need:

1 bunch of kale (I like the curly leaf kind)
A tablespoon or two of olive oil
Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
A couple of tablespoons of nutritional yeast (this is optional, but is vegan and gives the kale chips a cheesy taste.  It is quite good)

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

I needed one large and one medium cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper.  You can use foil too.  I prefer parchment paper.

Tear the kale into 2 inch pieces.  I like to do mine a little larger where possible.  Toss the kale with the olive oil.  Sprinkle in some salt and pepper, give it a good stir and then sprinkle in a little more.  I do this for even coverage.  Mix in the nutritional yeast and continue to gently stir or fold the kale until it looks evenly covered with olive oil.

Put the kale on the baking sheets in a single layer - you can butt the pieces right up to each other because they shrink while cooking.  Make the sure the kale pieces are lying as flat as possible.

I bake mine on the 2nd rack from the bottom.  Bake for 16 - 17 minutes or until crispy.  The recipe I used as a guide said 30 - 35 minutes which would have been entirely too long.  Be careful not to over cook the kale.  It should be crispy but still green.

Well, it's 10:24 and the kale chips have been polished off.  Good night! 

My favorite dinner so far...

Here is one of my favorite dinners to make.  It is basic, quick & easy to prepare and you can substitute any of the veggies for your favorites.  For my friends who eat meat - you can substitute the tofu for beef, chicken, pork or even fish!

Ingredients:
1 cup dry sushi rice
1 package of firm tofu - drained and rinsed, cut into 2 inch cubes
1 small eggplant - cut into 1 inch X 3 inch strips
1 red pepper - cut into strips
1 green pepper - cut into strips
1 onion - diced
1 zucchini - sliced
1/2 cup of portobello mushrooms
Extra virgin olive oil
1 clove fresh garlic
Handful of fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup of soy sauce
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
1/2 cup of water
Any type of hot suace is optional.

Directions:
Prepare sushi rice according to package. 

Heat oil in a large nonstick frying pan over high heat, add tofu, and gently cook, turning tofu occasionally, until browned slightly, about 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer tofu to a plate.

Cook garlic, onion, eggplant, zucchini, and bell pepper in pan until softened, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes. Add soy sauce, sugar, and oyster sauce and cook until heated through, another 2 minutes.  Add water as needed.  Return tofu to pan, add mushrooms and gently stir to coat. Remove from heat and stir in basil leaves.  I like to add a dash of hot sauce for more flavor.  You can also be creative and add any of your own spices while sauteeing the vegetables - onion powder, turmeric, ginger, etc.  This is really a dish that you can customize or make different everytime.  It is fun to experiment with cooking! 

Serve over rice.  Enjoy!