(Betcha Can’t Eat Just One) Kale Chips

My toddler, who ordinarily wouldn’t touch anything, er, green, gobbles these up!  Great little snack to replace popcorn.

Ingredients:
– Half a bunch of kale (any kind will do)
– 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
– 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
– dash of salt

Steps:
1.  Wash the kale and pull the leaves off the stems in chip-size pieces (I actually often use that pre-washed, pre-chopped bagged kale, and keep the stems in there… but the stems don’t really crisp up nicely).
2.  Put the kale pieces into a bowl and add the two oils and salt.  A little oil and salt go a LONG way, so be conservative.  Mush the ingredients together with your hands until the kale is completely coated.
3.  Lay the kale out on a baking sheet or two, so that it is in one single layer.
4.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes, checking often to make sure the kale hasn’t started to burn.  Alternately, you can do a 200 degree oven for longer, and have less burn worries.
5. Remove the kale from the oven when the chips get crispy and eat right away (they get stale FAST).

These don’t last long in my house, and there are rarely leftovers.  Enjoy!

Orange Dutch Oven Chicken

A certain friend of mine (who happens to be pregnant) requested that I post this recipe.  As always, this is super simple and really yummy.  I have a thing for chicken and orange together.  You can serve it with pretty much any carb (potatoes, rice, kasha) and/or any green (salad, collards, broccoli) for a nice, hardy meal.

 

Ingredients:

– One small whole chicken (make sure it will fit into your dutch oven)

– 2 whole oranges, cut in half

– 10 cloves garlic (whole)

– 1 onion, sliced thickly (about 1/2 inch)

– 6 large shitake mushrooms (optional)

– Salt and pepper

 

Steps:

1.  Line the pot with the sliced onions, garlic, and shitake mushrooms

2.  Wash the chicken and put it in the pot

3.  Cover the chicken with salt and pepper

4.  Squeeze the oranges and pour the juice over the chicken

5. Put the orange halves into the pot (you can put one into the chicken, too)

6.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for as long as you have the patience.  The longer you cook it, the more tender it will get!

7.  When the chicken is done, suck up the gravy, baste the bird a few times, then put the gravy into a boat and let your diners pour it over the top of the chicken just before they eat it.

 

The meat will literally fall off of the bone.  If you have enough room in your dutch oven, you can also put sliced large, or small whole potatoes on top of the onion layer before putting the chicken in the pot.  They soak up the juices and will be as tasty as the meat.

The Quickest Greenbeans

Just take a second to cook, and are so unbelievably yummy, also just take a second to eat!

 

Ingredients:

– Greenbeans, washed and trimmed

– One tablespoon vegetable oil

– One tablespoon toasted sesame oil

– One tablespoon Sambal Olek (or similar chili-garlic sauce)

– Salt

 

Steps:

1.  Put the vegetable oil in a frying pan and heat on high

2.  After the oil is hot, add the green beans

3.  Cook until they start to brown just a tad, stir

4.  Add sesame oil, stir

5.  Cook a few more minutes until the beans are done the way you like them (I like mine still a little crispy)

6.  Add the Sambal Olek and enough salt to make the flavor pop

7.  Serve over rice

 

Quick, quick, quick and deeee-lish.