Not every recipe I try is a blazing success. That's why the gods invented dogs and humankind invented garbage bags. Dogs will eat almost anything and garbage bags can be closed. This is the story of one of those "partial" successes. Did you notice that I didn't call this a partial failure? As my dear friend, Linda, observes, I am an annoying optimist.
But back to the topic of food and what I was trying to accomplish when I happened upon this current challenge. On the topic of food I like eating a more health-filled diet because such food not only gives me more energy and helps the pounds drop off, but it also annoys the crap out of a few of my acquaintances. OK, some of my family and friends also think that I'm going too far. "For pity sakes, have a double bacon cheeseburger and relax," they tell me.
When considering the challenges of my eating regime I would list my longing for some of the more familiar foods from my past life, which was about 40 pounds ago. Most days, however, I'm delighted with all the wonderful ways to enjoy my vegetarian status. But I'm always on the lookout for substitutes for familiar little treats like chips. This snack is a winner. These chips can be created in a cheesy or sweet variety. These chips are a tasty way to eat extra vegetables. These chips also boarder on the ugly side, which means that most of them are yours to enjoy until some brave soul steps forward to taste one. Then it will be a struggle to get your share.
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| Top - Cheezy Swiss Chard Chips & Bottom - Sweet Kale Chips |
Chip successes include a recipe for Cheezy Swiss Chard Chips, which is a recipe that will give you a chance to use more of that nutritional yeast that you purchased to make Really Good Broth that was posted on July 24. For this Cheezy Swiss Chard Chips recipe you'll need:
Ingredients:
2 green peppers seeded and cut into chunks
Juice of one lime
1 T agave nectar
1 T nutritional yeast flakes plus more for topping
1 cup raw cashews
1/8 t salt
Big bunch of Swiss Chard
Distructions:
Wash and remove center vein from the Swiss Chard. Tear it into pieces at least 3x3 inches but don't obsess over this. Place the chard onto a towel to wait its turn for its next appearance.
Place all the other ingredients into a blender and whip it good, or whip it until it remains a bit chunky. I prefer it smooth. Pour this batter into a large bowl and toss the Swiss Chard leaves with the batter to coat. Place the coated chard onto dehydrator trays, sprinkle with a bit more nutritional yeast flakes, and dehydrate at about 105 degrees for 12 to 24 hours. I prefer the 24. These chips are crisp and delicious.
Kale Chips - the rest of the story.
I tried a number kale chip recipes, tweaking each to suit my taste, and coming up with two winners. The first, my favorite, is a sweet and hot variety. With all these recipes it's necessary to wash and strip the kale leaves from their stems. Do the towel thing to remove most of the water.
Sweet and Hot Kale Chips:
1 t salt
2 T olive oil
2 T agave nectar
1/8 t ground cayenne pepper, more or less to taste
Whisk together and toss with the kale. Dehydrate about 8 hours at 105 to 115 degrees. These chips will be crisp and sweet with a nice spicy finish.
Next I tried the same recipe but substituted apple cider vinegar for the agave nectar to get a vinegar chip. Also liked these chips but not quite as much as the hot and sweet.
Finally, because I still had a bunch of kale staring me in the face, I tried a simple salty chip. The recipe suggested that a light coating of oil and a generous sprinkling of salt would be delicious. Well, I think the person suggesting this concoction had lowered the bar on delicious. It was like putting a teaspoon of salt into my mouth. The fate of those chips is pictured below.
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| Serving Suggestion for Salty Kale Chips - Yes, it's the trash! |
The Mom
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