My journey of cooking, gardening, preserving and more
This recipe is proof that food doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated to be delicious. One of my favorite ways to do Cornish Hens is to rub them down with minced garlic, cumin, cinnamon, red pepper and fresh lime juice; the hens end up …
La Quercia is a socially-conscious company I discovered a few years ago and one I’ve become a huge fan of. They came onto my radar back then as a group of people who were making a prosciutto here in the U.S. that was actually comparable to the Italian stuff. I …
As a lover of these, I credit my friend Carri for finally motivating me to make them myself and now I’m hooked. In case you haven’t noticed from my previous Tuscan Soup and Sauteed Kale with Olive Oil, Garlic and Lemon posts, I have a love affair with kale. I’ve loved kale for a long time but it’s only in the last few years that it’s finally gained the spotlight it deserves.
So far, this has worked with both curly kale and also the type of kale I used this time, which was a flat leaf, organic Lacinato Kale. I do mine to the point of true crispiness, though I’ve had store-bought brands that still have a little chewiness to them. In my opinion, you really can’t go wrong either way. (have I mentioned how much I love kale?)
Preheat oven to 275º
On a large baking sheet, toss kale pieces with olive oil and salt until all of the leaves have a slight sheen to them from the oil.
Spread the kale pieces out evenly across the baking sheet. A little overlapping at first is fine, as the kale will shrink as it dries out.
Bake for 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and toss the kale around a bit, evening out to a single layer again and bake for another 10 minutes.
Reduce heat to 225º and, using a spatula, turn the kale over and redistribute again into a single layer. Bake for 20-30 more minutes, depending on the level of crispiness you like. (You may want to toss around once or twice more during this round, to keep the kale cooking evenly)
That’s it! Really, you’re not cooking them as much as you’re dehydrating them. Too high of a heat for too long will start to burn the edges of the kale, which won’t be pleasant tasting. There are a number of methods out there for making these but this is how I’ve found I like them best.
I’ve found that a great way to serve them is in a tube of heavy paper or parchment paper. This keeps the bits of oil off your hands and makes them easier to eat in large quantities…which I do.
Enjoy!
I admit it. I love the smell of freshly-turned dirt. I love getting out in my yard and digging around in my gardens. Every year, nature amazes me anew. Short, cold and gray days slowly give way to longer, warmer, sunnier days. Every year, just …
Pork is not only a healthier alternative to beef, it’s also just as versatile. I do pulled pork 2 ways – one braised and simmered in beer or broth and the other oven roasted. Both are incredibly easy and both result in tender, delicious pork. …
If you’re looking for a quick antioxidant boost, a berry smoothie is a great way to go. To make a smoothie, all you need is a blender. Everyone has a blender, right? I feel like smoothies are one of those things that a lot of people talk about but not everybody gets.
Smoothies can be made with so many different ingredients that the possibilities are almost endless. Try soy milk with berries, almond milk with spinach, strawberries with bananas. You have to play around with your favorite foods to know what mash-ups you like. Make a green power drink: think cukes, spinach, kale, matcha, herbs, etc. Add just a few ingredients or you add as many as you like. Try not to drink the same one all the time though – you want to get a good mix of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients.
Here are a couple of shots of a blackberry smoothie I made recently with what I happened to have on hand:
Smoothies don’t have to be complicated – you just need some fresh fruits and veggies on hand.
This is how I made this particular smoothie:
Blend until well pureed. I usually need to shake the blender around once or twice during blending, to keep everything moving.
Add crushed ice to the blender too, if you like – especially nice In the summertime or after a workout,
I also add ground flax seed sometimes, which is a great natural source of omega-3’s. Know that eating whole flax seeds don’t offer nearly the benefits that ground ones do – your body doesn’t absorb the nutrients from whole ones, because they usually pass through you without breaking down. I grind a batch of my flax seeds in a small coffee grinder and keep them in my fridge, so they’re ready to use. They can go rancid quickly if not stored in the fridge, so consider yourself warned.
For my fellow gardening friends, here’s a shot of one of my flax plants, taken last summer:
How about you – are you a smoothie drinker?
If you’ve never had coleslaw made without mayonnaise, I hope you’ll try this! I was kind of a weird kid in the fact that I didn’t really like coleslaw growing up. The cabbage always seemed to be drowning in watered-down mayo and it was never …