May 25, 2016

Ranch Kale Chips

laura.smoak@gmail.com Veggies 0 Comments

Today, friends, I’m showing you my crunchy side: my name is Laura and I love granola and kale chips.

I had a friend ask last week if I had any ideas for kale chip seasonings other than the standard salt/pepper combo <– can I just say it is so flattering when people ask me if I have a recipe for something? It really gives me a boost and makes me feel like maybe I really do have a place in this big, food blogging world. I’d never made kale chips before, so of course this request turned me into the “I have to make kale chips immediately because OH MY GOSH I CANNOT BELIEVE I’VE NEVER MADE KALE CHIPS, LIKE REALLY WHY HAVE I NEVER MADE MY OWN KALE CHIPS, HOW CAN I EVEN CALL MYSELF A FOOOOOOOD BLOGGER???” freak that Andy loves so much.

I don’t even know why I’ve gone this long without making my own. I guess maybe it just seemed daunting, or like something that seems like a good idea but in reality just comes out meh? But, you guys, I was entirely wrong. Kale chips are super duper easy and really delicious made right in your very own home. And the possibilities are endless. I have so many more flavor combos in mind that I can’t wait to try. I’m not sure why my mind initially went to ranch seasoning, but it did and I’m so glad because that tang on that crunch is everything.

I know some of you may be skeptical of this kale chip trend going on, but you know two people that aren’t skeptical at all? Anna Ruth and her cousin twin Jack. These kids literally ate an entire pan just between the two of them and wanted more. Anything that can get my picky vegetable eater to eat straight up greens is a winner for me. I see a lot of kale chips in our future. I couldn’t get to my camera fast enough to get a picture of them devouring the chips, but here’s a feel good picture from just a few hours prior that I just wanted to share because it’s so cute…strolling through the farmer’s market hand in hand.

As with anytime I make something completely new to me I did some research and did several test rounds. Here are the basics I found for flawless kale chips regardless of the seasonings used:

Low heat works best. Most recipes I saw had the kale cooking at 300, but I actually found that 275 was best to get the ultimate crunch without any browning. Crunch = good. Brown = bad.
Make sure the kale is as dry as possible before cooking so that it doesn’t steam.
The bigger the torn pieces, the better. Kale really realllllly shrinks up in the oven, so start with pieces that you think are too large.
Don’t overdo the oil. I only use 1.5 teaspoons for about four loosely packed cups of kale (one baking sheet worth). Drizzle it over the fresh kale, then massage it into every piece one by one to make sure every piece is covered.
There really is no need to flip the kale half way through. I rotate the pan half way through just because I want to, but that really might not even be necessary.
For ranch seasoning specifically, I prefer to sprinkle it on once the chips are out of the oven. I can’t really describe it, but something funky happened when it cooked for 20 minutes, but that could also be partly the dairy powder in the mix. I’ve since found a vegan ranch mix that I am going to try in the coming weeks when I have more time. For now, though, the standard mix that you find in the dressing aisle of the grocery store works fine.

I’m a big fan of the ranch seasoning, but I would love to hear other combos you either have used or think might be good!

Ingredients:

4 cups kale leaves – stems removed and torn into large pieces
1.5 tsp olive oil
½ tsp ranch seasoning

Directions:

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
Prepare the kale by washing, removing the stems and tearing into large pieces. Dry as thoroughly as possible.
Arrange kale on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Drizzle with the olive oil and massage into each piece so that all of the kale is evenly coated.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, rotating the pan half way through the cooking time.
Once out of the oven, sprinkle with the ranch seasoning and enjoy!

May 18, 2016

Quinoa Tabbouleh

laura.smoak@gmail.com Sides, Veggies 1 Comment

Quinoa tabbouleh quinoa tabbouleh quinoa tabbouleh – yay!!

I can’t believe I’m just now sharing this recipe with you. Friends, do you ever go through phases with your food? As in, you make the same thing on a weekly basis for 1235 weeks in a row, then stop for no apparent reason? Then after a little break you remake the thing you made for 1235 weeks in a row and remember that it is one of your favorite things and it is always so fresh and on point, so you resume with the never ending cycle? This is that food for me.

What we have here is essentially a salad without leafy greens. Unless you count fresh herbs as leafy greens? I don’t know – whatever – it’s up to you. We’ve got nutty quinoa mixed with bright tomatoes and cucumbers that give you that healthy veggie glow vibe, and then everyone gets cozy with a whole lotta parsley and a zippy lemon dressing. You guys, that cucumber crunch, tho. I wouldn’t be the least bit mad if you replaced the tomatoes with another cucumber because while they’re a really pretty pop of color (I mean, LOOK at those babies…just gorgeous) and nutrition they don’t add a really necessary flavor. Someone do that and report back, please.

Another thing I want to mention is that we’re thiiiiiis close to having this vegan. I don’t know about you, but I’m in the camp that insists on cooking my quinoa in chicken broth. I’ve literally never ever cooked it any other way, so I guess I’m just an oldie set firmly in her comfort zone. I promise I will get on the sometimes vegan train soon because this would be the easiest swap possible (veggie broth or water for the chicken broth), but I just haven’t done it yet. Someone also do that and report back, please!

I had taken a little break from making this quinoa tabbouleh, but its revival couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m on a mission to do more lunches from home – remember when I talked about how awesome our cafeteria is at work? As awesome as it is, it is still much more affordable and healthy to eat from home, so brown-bagging it is. Enter this quinoa tabbouleh. I’ll make it on Sunday during naptime –> shocker <– and then portion it out for us to have for lunches during the week. Paired with whatever protein we have from the night before, along with our veggie bags, we have a perfect lunch.

On another note, you guys, this is your new best friend when it comes to bringing sides for cookouts and parties. Some groups are more into these types of healthy sides than others, but no worry – as we’ve already established, any leftovers are great for days to come. Is it bad that I secretly wish that people won’t eat this dish when I bring it to a function, just so that I can have more to take home? That rarely happens, though, because by now errrryone knows it is de-lish.

Go ahead and volunteer to bring this quinoa tabbouleh to your Memorial Day cookout (like oh my gosh how is it already almost Memorial Day), and be the star side-bringer we all know you are. And then just be prepared to make this every week forever and ever.

Ingredients:

1 cup dry quinoa
2 cups chicken broth (use vegetable broth to make this vegan)
2 English cucumbers (also called hothouse cucumber)
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 bunch flat leaf parsley
½ tsp salt
3 tbsp lemon juice
¼ cup olive oil

Directions:

Cook the quinoa in the chicken broth according to the package directions. Once done move it to a large bowl and place in the refrigerator to cool.
While the quinoa cooks and cools, slice the tomatoes in half and dice the cucumbers. Remove the parsley stems and chop the leaves. Combine the salt and lemon juice in a small bowl then gradually whisk in the olive oil to emulsify.
Once the quinoa is cooled stir in cucumber, tomatoes, parsley and the lemon dressing.
Enjoy!

May 11, 2016

Chimichurri

laura.smoak@gmail.com Sauce, Vegan 0 Comments

Your weeknight dinners just got a major facelift…a green, cilantro-y, lime-y facelift. Weeknight meals, meet chimichurri. Chimichurri, meet weeknight meals.

Vegan √
Fresh herbs √
Loads of flavor √

(I’m going to put this into the “I’m still learning about photography” category. The pictures don’t do it justice.)

For us, the easiest weeknight meal generally involves one pan with protein and vegetables all roasted together with a little salt, pepper and olive oil (my current favorite is chicken, Brussels sprouts and cubed sweet potatoes). While that’s good as is, having a delicious sauce really brings it full circle. Chimichurri is so fresh and flavorful, and is the easiest way to make what would otherwise be a good meal feel a little more special.

We’ve been making chimichurri for years, and have just now written down the recipe. Guys, recipe writing has proven to be a little more difficult at times than we thought it would be. We’ve always just eye-balled stuff, so when we actually have to measure out what we’re using it can throw us off. When Andy first made this sauce actually measuring out ingredients, he put in a whole tablespoon of salt. I saw that he had written that down and nearly fainted. As you’ll see – the recipe only calls for half of a teaspoon, so this was way off (#bless). Needless to say I was in charge with the next batch. I really can’t blame him, though. When you go from pouring a little salt in the palm of your hand to pouring it into a measuring spoon it can be really deceiving. Regardless, we now have our fool proof recipe that we can use for years to come. Woot woot.

As you’ve probably come to expect from me this sauce is make-ahead and freezer friendly. As written, the recipe makes about a cup of sauce, so I freeze it in quarter cup portions and just pull it out at the beginning of the week to use in a few dinners and lunches. It’s also super easy. You just throw everything into a mini food processor and let it go. You can also use a regular food processor, blender or bullet, but I just prefer the mini. Once made you can enjoy this sauce with just about any meat or vegetable. I have yet to find something that doesn’t go well with it!

Ingredients:

1 bunch cilantro leaves and half of the stems
½ tsp salt
½ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
¼ cup olive oil
3 tbsp lime juice

Directions:

Pulse all ingredients together in a mini food processor (regular size works fine, too). You may need to take the lid off a couple of times, and push the leaves down in between pulses. Use with poultry, pork, steak or roasted vegetables. Store in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for three months. Enjoy!

spinach ricotta stuffed eggplant parmesan

May 4, 2016

Ricotta Spinach Stuffed Eggplant Parmesan

laura.smoak@gmail.com Veggies 2 Comments

Ricotta Spinach Stuffed Eggplant Parmesan. Do you need more words, or is that enough to get you in the kitchen stat? This dish is everything your veggie loving self needs every day for the rest of your veggie loving life. Remember Andy – my meatatarian husband that *tolerates* one meatless night a week? Well we had TWO meatless nights (and 2 meatless lunches) last week, and he was 1,000% okay with it. And it’s all thanks to this ↓ lightly breaded eggplant + spinach + ricotta + mozzarella + sauce all baked to perfection.

What we have here is traditional eggplant parmesan (except baked) meets eggplant lasagna meets stuffed shells (minus the pasta) meets gooey cheese heaven meets heaven heaven…like for real this is probably what vegetarians eat in heaven…too far? -> NOPE. This dish is huge, and could be cut in half, but then that would require more measuring, plus you would have fewer leftovers and put in just about the same amount of work, so I’m going with the “more leftovers = less cooking later on” side of the aisle. <– Lazy girl winning at life right there, friends.

And, you guys, this dish is suuuuper low-cal. I had to run the numbers three times because I just couldn’t believe it. Divided into 8 huge portions, each serving is only 313 calories – 313 calories FOR DINNER. That leaves room for a nice piece of crusty bread and glass of wine…two things that give me all the comfort food, treat yo self, keeping it healthy dinner feels. I mean look at the size of that serving…

For us this is a Sunday night dinner, Monday-Tuesday lunch and Wednesday night dinner type of situation. You need a good hour from the time you start slicing the eggplant until it’s totally assembled and ready for the oven, but that is definitely not all hands-on time. You have two 20-minute waiting times that you can get a ton of work done. For example: the last time I made this I dusted my house and set-up to clean the bathrooms while the eggplant soaked, then while the eggplant rounds were baking I cleaned the sinks and toilets. Then you still have an hour of cooking time when you can do anything: vacuum, exercise, relax with a glass of wine because your house is 75% clean – whatever, the choice is yours! It’s not practical for us to make during the week, but if I stayed home this would be something that could easily be made during naptime and cooked later on.

This is also a great dish if you’re having guests, especially if you want to have a vegetarian option. You can have it assembled and ready for the oven, then just pop it in once they arrive and let it cook while you’re doing appetizers and drinks. It can easily serve as a side dish (smaller portions, obv), but it is really so good as an entrée and you don’t miss having meat.

8-10 servings (313 calories/8 servings or 250 calories/10 servings)

Ingredients:

2 large eggplants (mine equaled about 3 lbs)
2 cups milk
1 ½ tsp salt
1 cup breadcrumbs
½ cup flour
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 (10 oz) box frozen chopped spinach – thawed and squeezed of juices
½ cup shredded parmesan cheese
2 ½ cups marinara sauce (one jar)
2 cups shredded mozzarella

Directions:

Combine milk and salt in a two-gallon zippered bag. Cut eggplant into ¼ inch rounds, then add to the bag. Soak for 20 minutes*.
While the eggplant soaks preheat oven to 400 degrees and line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine breadcrumbs, flour and Italian seasoning in a bowl.
Remove the eggplant, one piece at a time, and coat both sides in the breadcrumb mixture. Place on the baking sheet, and repeat until all of the slices are coated (some overlap is ok). Cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes. The breading may still look a little “dusty,” but that’s fine.
While the eggplant cooks, combine ricotta, egg, spinach and parmesan in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Prepare a 9X13 baking dish with cooking spray.
Take the eggplant slices out of the oven.
Assembly:
- Spread ½ cup marinara sauce in the bottom of the baking dish.
- Layer half of the eggplant in the dish.
- Cover with 1 cup marinara sauce**.
- Add the spinach-ricotta mixture, and spread evenly over the marinara.
- Sprinkle ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese over mixture.
- Layer the second half of the eggplant.
- Cover with remaining cup of marinara sauce, spreading evenly.
- Finish with remaining 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella.
Cover loosely with foil, and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes, or until the cheese is browned to your liking.
Enjoy!

*Flip the bag a few times to make sure it soaks evenly.

**This won’t look perfect, but it all cooks together nicely. Just use a spatula and spread as evenly as you can, and make sure there is at least a little sauce covering each piece.