Trendy For A Reason: Kale Chips

I can't believe I resisted making kale chips for so long.

Have you tried them yet? Thin bites of crispy baked kale. They're hitting the mainstream with a flutter of online chatter- people are talking about them, blogging about them and loving them. And while kale chips may not instantly jump out at you, I urge you to give these a try. They're surprising easy to make, fun to eat and tasty to snack on. They taste a lot like potato chips but are healthier, more nutritious, lower in calories and like potato chips, you cannot stop at just eating one.


Here's the basic recipe. You can also try seasoning these chips just as you might do with popcorn. Try adding Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, soy sauce, smoked paprika, cayenne or nutritional yeast. Let me know what you think.



Baked Kale Chips

Ingredients
1 bunch of kale
1 tablespoon of olive oil
a dash of salt and pepper (be careful not to add too much salt, a little goes a long way with these)

Directions
Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line a baking tray or two depending on their size with parchment paper.

Wash the kale. Using a knife, carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and cut into bite size pieces. Then, thoroughly dry kale using a salad spinner or by placing the leaves or a tea towel and dabbing dry.

Place the kale leaves in a large mixing bowl and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Using your hands, mix around the leaves to make sure each one has a little coating of olive oil and seasoning. Spread onto the baking tray in a single layer.

Place the cookie sheets on the middle or high rank in the oven. Being careful not to burn, bake until the edges brown, for 10 to 15 minutes.

Make Your Own Soledad Almonds

Has anyone else noticed how Sahale Snacks seem to be just about everywhere right now? I first noticed them, and the slick packaging, at Starbucks... and now they're just about everywhere I look.

Sahale Snacks is a Seattle-based company that makes all natural, gourmet nut snacks. And while they seem to market themselves as an outdoorsy person's snack - something you might take on a hike - they're really more fancy then that. They'd better accompaniment to a glass of wine, if you ask me.


The price is on the high side (about $5.50 for a 142 gram bag). And right from the first time I saw these I thought why, I could make these at home! So I did. And it helps that the main ingredients are clearly listed on the front of the bag.

The results? I'm quite pleased with my homemade mix of roasted almonds, diced dried apples, dates, flax seeds, balsamic vinegar, and cayenne. It works. Their almonds were crunchier, more toasted and mine tasted fresher. I think Sahale's mix has some extra spices such as cumin, cinnamon and perhaps hot paprika. And I didn't roast my mix in the oven which I'd do next time. But all in all, they taste (and look) pretty similar.


Here's the recipe as I made it...

Ingredients
1 cup roasted almonds
1/2 cup dried apple rings, diced
1/2 cup dates, diced
2 tablespoons flax seeds
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon orange juice
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions
Over a medium high heat, roast almonds for 5 minutes until they start giving off oils and an aroma. Meanwhile, combine balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, orange juice, cayenne and salt [and pinches of cumin and cinnamon next time I make it].

Add the liquid to the fry pan and continue cooking for two minutes. [Next time I will try roasting in the oven at 250 for 30 minutes or so- on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper] Remove from heat and spread out into a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and cool.

Power spheres with dried fruit and seeds

About a year ago, my sister Lorelei and I made homemade granola bars working from the same recipe and compared notes. Well, there must be something about energy boosting snack foods because we're at it again, this time with power sphere's from Rebar's Modern Food Cookbook.

Melody's Side
I found these power spheres surprising easy, and very rewarding, to make. All the dry ingredients are pulsed in the food processor, mixed with the wet ingredients, refrigerated, rolled into balls and then rolled in the sesame seeds. The result? Great tasting and nutritious power spheres.

I added one tablespoon of maple syrup (just because) and toasted the sesame seeds in a frying pan to bring out the nutty flavour of the seeds. The fruit sweetener is the trickiest part of this recipe- it's found in health food stores and is a little costly, running at about seven dollars.


Lorelei's Side

My power spheres turned out very nicely and I'm already planning to make them again soon. They make an excellent mid-morning snack at work that can be eaten quickly when I'm on the run with a stomach that just won't stop rumbling. As a person with blood sugar issues, I especially like how the high protein content of the peanut butter and seeds keeps me feeling balanced and "even" until lunch.

The only variation I made to the recipe is that I added some almond butter that I had in the fridge in addition to the peanut butter. The recipe calls for fruit sweetener and I used a mixture of one half honey (Babe's Honey) and one half agave nectar (found at a health food store). Also, I also misread the instructions and added sesame seeds right into the dough and therefore did not roll the dough in the seeds. I think that I prefer it this way because it likely makes them less messy to eat.

In Summary
Two-times-two thumbs up! This recipe was a success for both of us and it sounds like we'll both be making these again soon. These are great to make before a road trip, hiking, camping or for nothing more then just another busy week.


Homemade Power Spheres (makes about 25)

Ingredients
3/4 cup dried apricots
3/4 cup dried apples
4 Brown Rice Cakes
1 cup unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup rolled oats
1 1/4 cup Fruit Sweetener (or 333 g, 11.75 oz bottle of blue agave nectar)
1/2 cup natural peanut butter, slightly warmed

Directions
In a food processor, pulse apricots, apples and rice cakes to a fine texture. Transfer to a large bowl.

Next, pulse coconut, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and oats so that things are roughly combined. Add this to the fruit mixture in the large bowl. Add fruit sweetener and peanut butter. Combine until well mixed, cover and chill the dough in the fridge for at least one hour.

Roll the dough into bulbs approximately the size of a golf ball. Roll balls until coated in toasted sesame seeds, pressing lightly to ensure that they stick. Serve, or wrap and refrigerate for a quick snack on the go.


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Morning Granola
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This dried fruit and nut mix is aptly named Posh Nosh Trail Mix- roasted unsalted almonds, peanuts, currents annd goji berries.