Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

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Posts Tagged ‘potato chips’

Kale Chips – Roasted Lettuce

Posted by terrepruitt on January 21, 2012

Well, I bought the kale on a whim after Nia one day.  My intention was to make kale chips.  I think I looked up the recipe.  The one I found said to remove the stems, then rip the kale into bite sized pieces, then wash it and spin it dry in a salad spinner.  That is as far as I got.  I don’t remember the rest.  It would have served me much better to keep reading and remember the directions.  I don’t have a salad spinner so I thought I would wash the kale before hand and let it dry.  I was thinking that it being dry was very important.  I think I decided that garbanzo beans need to be dry.  But instead of drying the garbanzo beans with a paper towel the other day I put them in the oven on a low temp without any oil, but with a little bit of salt.  I let them “dry” that way.  Then I put olive oil and seasonings on them and roasted them.  They came out very well.  So I thought I would do the same thing with the kale.  But this time I thought I would use my convection setting.  I really ought to “listen” to my nose when it tells me something is burning.  YUP!  I burned the whole tray of kale.  My convection only goes on at 300 degrees and I guess I was thinking kale was much heartier than it actually is.  Sigh.

Dance exercise, Nia dance, Nia class, Nia San Jose, San Jose Nia, San Jose Dance Exercise, Nia Teacher, Nia classBut with that lesson under my belt and a half of bunch left, I put the remaining kale on the cookie sheet.  I just pulled the leafy greens off the stem at the same time I ripped it into bite sized pieces.  And I washed it first because I didn’t want to be handling the dirty (it was really dirty) kale.

I spayed the pan with olive oil, then set the ripped pieces of kale on the pan, then sprayed the kale with olive oil, then sprinkled garlic salt on it.

I didn’t use the convection part, but I kept the oven at 300, but only for ten minutes.  Let me tell you, the kale cooks a lot slower with the convection off and oil on it.  I think I cooked it a total of forty minutes — maybe it was 30?  I did turn the oven down to 200 after the first ten minutes.  I can’t sit there and watch stuff cook so I thought 200 would be ok, and kept checking it.  I think the last 10 minutes I turned the oven off.  I think it is the type of thing that I will have to cook in ten minute intervals and check on.

It was ok.  It taste like roasted lettuce to me.  I don’t think it deserves the rave reviews that I have heard from people.  And by no means can it beat a potato chip (as so many have claimed), but it is ok.  It is a way to get some greens in.  It is not too hard to make.  It is a great thing to snack on.  And I think my husband REALLY liked them. He kept reaching for them.  Anytime he reaches for something over and over again, I know it is a hit!  So I will be making them again.  I probably will pay as much attention to cooking them as I did this time.  I should have paid more attention because I knew I was going to post about it.  But I didn’t.  After I burned the first batch I was kind up grumpy at myself.  The funny thing is, I burned the first batch because I was so excited to write my kale post.  So I set the time more based on how long it would take me to finish up and post my article then how long it would take to dry the kale.

So have you made kale chips?  Have you tried them?

Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: , , , , , , | 9 Comments »

The Easiest Way To Cook Eggplant

Posted by terrepruitt on August 4, 2011

Often I hear people say they would like to cook eggplant but they don’t know how.  I also hear a lot of people say you have to get the water out of eggplant before you cook it.  Well, I would like to try cooking it another way because the only way I know how is to roast it, of course.  Recently I bought some eggplant specifically to cube it and sautee it to see how that would be.  But when I started thinking about how yummy it is roasted, I opted for roasting it.   I have used Japanese eggplant, which it nice because it has less seeds.  It is also nice because it is more evenly shaped so all the slices come out basically the same size so they cook at a more even rate.  I typically use the large pear-ish shaped eggplant.   The last time I bought it, the store clerk said she had always wanted to try it but didn’t know how to cook it (see, I told you people tell me that).  So I decided to share my way of cooking it.  You know I love to roast veggies.  Roasting veggies is so easy because you can put them on and work on cooking the rest of dinner.   I was so busy cooking the rest of dinner I forgot to take pictures of the roasted eggplant.  I remembered to take pictures of it as I sliced it, but I forgot to do it after it was cooked.

I slice at about 3/8 of an inch.  I put olive oil on the pan (I use a cookie sheet), then place the slices on the pan in rows, then I drizzle a little olive oil on the slices.  I sprinkle garlic powder on each slice.  Then I sprinkle salt on each slice.  The salt will help release the water.  Pretty much the same way as sweating the vegetables, but the water will evaporate in the oven.  I usually cook them for about 15 or twenty minutes at 400 degrees.  Then I flip them over.  I usually add more seasoning.  It depend on how much salt I put on before.  I might add more or not.  I put them back in the oven.  How long depends on how they look.  Often times they don’t cook evenly so some will be done where others will not.  So I take the done ones off the pan, then I set the timer for the time I guess that the next ones will be done.  When that time is up I take the done ones off the cookie sheet and put the pan back in the oven.  Depending on how they are cooking, I might flip them.  It is a process.  You have to watch them a bit.  That is why it is good to have other stuff to be cooking in the kitchen.  You also have to decide HOW cooked you like them.  You can cook them just a little until they are still really soft and doughy or you can cook them until they are crispy–almost like potato chips.  I like mine crispy.

A friend on FB said she puts cheese on the slices.  That would be excellent.  I haven’t tried that.  I am sure it is really good.

I don’t squeeze out the water before cooking and I don’t take out the seeds.  I also do not cook it for a set amount of time.  I start with 15 minutes and go from there.  It is best to decide as you go along.

I did not realize that eggplant is a fruit, a berry in fact.  I don’t think in terms of botany.  I just think in terms of eating and cooking.  The information I saw said eggplant is a fruit that is used in cooking like a vegetable.  So yeah, I think of it as a vegetable.

So that is how I cook eggplant 🙂 pretty much how I cook all my vegetables.  What about you?  Do you cook eggplant?  How?  I really would like to try it other ways, but I don’t know how to cook it aside from roasting it.  Did you know it is a fruit?  Did you know it is a berry?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »