Baked Kale Chips - Tasty Tuesday!

It's summer, so there is a ton of fresh produce.  Fortunately, I've finished up all the ginormous zucchini that my friend kept foisting on me.  There are other veggies still in my house, however.  Last week, I attended the Chicago Food Swap, and I came home with a ton of great goodies.  Although the honey hot fudge and butterscotch and salted caramel sauces weren't the most healthy, nor was the jam I picked up or the organic butter, I did come home with some awesome healthy treats, too, including dill pickles (two kinds!) and two gorgeous bunches of kale.

Yum.

I love kale.  I know I'm somewhat in the minority on this one, though, so I get creative with how I use it so others in my family will eat it, too.  Yesterday, I attended a barbecue at a friend's house and used up the last of the kale making baked kale chips.  My beautiful bowl of crunchy goodness disappeared faster than I'd hoped it would.  Even the kids liked it.

Yes.  Kids.  Liked.  Green.  Vegetables.  Go figure.

Baked Kale Chips

Ingredients:
1 bunch kale (any variety works)
1 T olive oil
1 t salt

Directions:
Remove the stems from your kale.  They are tough and don't cook at the same rate as the leaves.  I sometimes keep them and grill them (another recipe), but in this case, I just tossed them.  The easiest way to do this is to run a sharp knife along the edge of the stem on either side of where it branches off into leaf to remove it.

Clean your kale.  I like to wash it a little then tear the leaves into slightly larger than chip size pieces.  This is not at all an exact science.  My salad spinner comes in handy at this point where I can spin them pretty dry, as you don't want to bake them when wet.

Once your kale is dry, place it into a bowl and drizzle the olive oil over it.  Use your fingers to "toss" the kale to ensure that all the leaves are equally coated with the olive oil.  This is what helps to get them really crispy.  Place them on a cookie sheet - I put my sil pat on it - in a single layer.  My one bunch of kale usually requires two cookie sheets.  Sprinkle the kale with salt, being sure you don't use too much.  The kale will shrink when baking, so it becomes more intense.

Bake in a preheated 275 degree oven for twenty to twenty-five minutes.  You can flip them halfway through to help them get crispy on all sides.  If you use the curly kale like I did, you often don't have to do this because they curl up on their own and expose all sides to the heat.  When they are just starting to brown, they are done.  Remove them from the oven and serve the same day.

Crunch crunch yum!

Enjoy this and more with Blessed With Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.  Rachel from A Southern Fairytale has an awesome Mouthwatering Monday linkup that I participate in, too.

Tasty Tuesday - Roasted Brussel Sprouts

I like my green veggies. I know not everyone does, but I would happily take asparagus or spinach or kale every day. And then there's brussel sprouts. This is one of those veggies that everyone loves to hate, and I have to admit that I'd never even tried them for decades because of their reputation.

Then I ate them. And I fell in love. Brussel sprouts are my favorite vegetable now, and when they're in season, I eat them all the time. My favorite way? Roasting them with bacon. Because bacon makes everything better.

Trust me, it's worth a try this way. This is not my mama's brussel sprout.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Bacon

Ingredients:
1 pound fresh brussel sprouts (Seriously. Don't ever buy frozen ones. Yuck.)
4 oz bacon
2 T balsamic vinegar
1 T olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Wash and trim your brussel sprouts. Remove the outer leaves that aren't held tightly to the sprouts. Cut off the bottom root, then slice the sprouts in half. If they're extra large, quarter them.

Toss the brussel sprouts in a bowl with the vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Place your brussel sprouts on a cookie sheet covered with a sil pat, cut side up. Slice your bacon into matchsticks and lay on the cookie sheet between the brussel sprouts.

Place your brussel sprouts in the 425 degree oven. You will bake these for a total over a little over 30 minutes. About halfway through, turn your brussel sprouts over so that the cut sides face down. With about five minutes left, use tongs to separate the bacon into individual pieces so it crisps up at the end of the cooking. The brussel sprouts should be almost crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Yuuuuuum.

Place into a bowl, and serve immediately. Try not to pick up the pieces with your fingers to pop them in your mouth like cherries before everyone's sitting down to dinner. I'll be honest; I've never succeeded in this.

Enjoy this and more with Blessed With Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday. Also posting now with A Southern Fairytale and her Mouthwatering Monday.