The kale in the greenhouse has gotten massive! I had Justin bring me some tonight to make kale chips. The kale bakes up so light and flaky/crunchy. I can eat ridiculous amounts of these. Super easy. Super healthy. Super cheap. Pretty much, they're super.
Which made me think of Goldfinger's "Superman". -jen
KALE CHIPS
Time: 20 minutes Difficulty: Way Easy Makes: however much kale you want to use
one large bunch of kale
olive oil
salt and pepper
grated Parmesan, optional
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
Remove kale leaves from stems and discard stems (or save in the freezer for soup stock!) Tear larger leaves into big bite-size pieces. Fill a Ziplock bag full of leaves. Toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil so that all the leaves are lightly coated (may need 3 tbsp if you really filled the bag). Place in single layer on two baking sheets. Lightly sprinkle salt and pepper over the top. Bake for 17 minutes.
I like to sprinkle a little grated Parmesan or Asiago over the kale chips immediately after removing them from the oven.
The lentil soup was really new for me. I'm sure I'd had lentils in soup before, but I have no immediate memory of it. I know we didn't grow up eating lentils. Believe it or not, we DO try to eat healthy at home most the time. And in an effort to better our carb intake (which means cut out the bad carbs and add in the good ones that are low on the glycemic index - ooh, science!), we picked up some green lentils. They sat in our pantry for a couple of months before I pulled them out and just decided to throw together a random soup... which was deliciously successful. I'm not even sure it's fair to call this a "soup". I wanted something a little thicker and hardier, so I suppose it's almost stew-like. Whatever it is, it's good. And that's what counts.
We rocked out with our friend Betsy's excellent Boston choice - The Unseen, singing "False Hope". -jen
ITALIAN SAUSAGE & LENTIL SOUP
1 pound Italian sausage (I used 1/2 mild, 1/2 hot)
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
4 ribs celery, chopped
3 large carrots, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 Anaheim peppers, chopped
1 jalapeño, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1.5 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 cup flour
1 can (14.5oz) peeled tomatoes
8 cups chicken broth
2 cups lentils
1/4 cup sherry
dash of hot sauce
dash of Worcestershire
salt and pepper to taste
In a stock pot over medium-high heat, brown sausage. When nearly cooked through, add 2 tablespoons of butter. Then add onion, celery, carrots, bell pepper, Anaheim peppers, and jalapeño. Cook until onions are just becoming translucent. Add garlic basil, thyme and rosemary, cooking for another 2 minutes. Sprinkle flour over vegetable and sausage mixture, stirring to mix in and cook 5 more minutes. Then add tomatoes, chicken broth, lentils, sherry, hot sauce and Worcestershire. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer for 30 minutes until lentils are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.
