Kale Chips (and the many flavor varieties)

Welcome to The Finished Plate’s 100th blog post! Hope you have enjoyed them so far and I look forward to writing many more!

Last night I made Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana which consisted of Kale. It was my first time really using kale in a recipe. I only used half a bunch in the recipe, so I needed a way of using the remainder. Why not Kale Chips? I’ve seen them being baked and dehydrated on Food Network shows and I’ve seen dozens of recipes for them online. First before I give you the recipe I used for just regular kale chips, I want to provide you links to all the recipe deviations out there providing more flavors and options.

Spicy Tasty: Baked Kale Chips -uses salt and garlic powder

An Uneducated Palate: Baby Kale Chips with a Kick- uses salt and crushed red pepper flakes (I love the name of the blog)

Alkaline Sisters: Chipotle Hemp Kale Chips-uses sunflower seeds, hemp nuts, chipotle powder, garlic, agave syrup and salt

Vegan Richa: Kale Chips with Garam Masala uses garam masala

Spabettie: Chocolate Dipped Sugared Kale Chips uses melted chocolate and coconut sugar

Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes: Cheezy Kale Chips uses raw cashews, nutri yeast, smoky paprika chipotle seasoning, garlic granules, paprika, and garlic

Savory Simple: Spicy Tahini Kale Chips uses lime juice, olive oil, tahini, yeast, crushed red pepper flakes and salt

Architecture of a Mom: Barbecue Kale Chips uses olive oil, salt and Smokehouse Maple Seasoning Mix from McCormick (I love the name of this blog too)

White on Rice Couple: Spicy Kale Chips uses olive oil, salt, chili flakes, paprika or cayenne pepper

The Healthy Family and Home: Raw Vegan Sour Cream and Onion Kale Chips uses macadamia nuts, cashews, onion, green onions, lemons, pink Himalayan salt

Okay, so you get the picture, as long as you can put a spice or seasoning into powder form, you can make kale chips rather tasty. Just keep looking, there are more variations.

For the recipe I am giving you, I am baking them and putting a ranch dressing powder on them. Yum, ranch kale chips! It’s easy and your kids might even like them!

Ingredients:

A half bundle of kale

1 tsp or more of olive oil or vegetable oil

a few sprinklings of ranch powder dressing mix

a bowl

a half sheet cookie pan

Directions:

Wash and dry your kale after you have taken the leaves off the stems.

Put the kale in a bowl and sprinkle olive oil and ranch powder of the top and incorporate onto the leaves by mixing it with your hands.

Spread onto cookie sheet. Wash your hands.

Bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes.

Eat immediately.

Enjoy! Yum!

Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana Recipe

I used to love going to the Olive Garden, but lately, it isn’t what it used to be. Every time I go there, I always get their Zuppa Toscana soup. I love it. When I was pregnant in 2010, I ate four bowls of it, and even ate it as the last meal right before I gave birth to him. Yes, I love it that much. I came across this recipe in hopes that I might be able to enjoy this at home and I wouldn’t have to drag my two-year old son into a restaurant whenever I felt the desire to eat their soup. He does not sit still for long.

Mom in Timeout: Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup

Ingredients:
(my changes in red)
1 lb Italian Sausage (spicy if you prefer more heat)
5-7 slices of bacon (I used a few handfuls of hormel bacon bits)
5 medium russet potatoes
2 c kale, chopped
1 c heavy whipping cream
1 qt water
2 cans of chicken broth
1/2 large onion (I used half a Valida onion)
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp red pepper flakes (a pinch)
Salt and pepper

Directions:

Crumble the sausage onto a baking sheet.  Bake the sausage in the oven at 300 degrees for about 30 minutes or until no longer pink.   Place on paper towels to drain. (This is a new way of cooking Italian sausage for me). Cook the bacon and crumble into small pieces.Slice the potatoes between 1/8″ and 1/4″.  I used the thick setting on my mandoline (or just hand slice them).   Just make the slices about the same size so they cook evenly.  Dice up the onion and mince the garlic.  Throw the potatoes, onion, garlic, chicken broth, and water into a large pot on medium heat until the potatoes are cooked through. Prepare the kale by chopping into bite sized pieces.  Kale is wonderful for soups because it holds up to the heat so well.  It’s also delicious! Add the sausage, bacon, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. During this time the potatoes will start breaking apart into smaller bite sized pieces because they are so tender.  Turn the heat to low and add in the kale and heavy cream.  Let the soup heat through and serve.

My take on the recipe:

It looks like the same soup, it smells like it, but it is way too spicy and doesn’t have much flavor depth to it. Also, whenever I get the soup at olive garden, the kale is wilted so much that it is barely edible. I think they throw everything into a pot and let it simmer for several hours. Or start with some sort of rue or base to help develop the flavors. It just didn’t get thick enough or salty or tasty enough and the potatoes are usually not that broken down at Olive Garden either. The 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes I put in was too much. I know some days when you get their soup it is a bit on the spicy side and other days it is really bland. So I think I will try this again after a few months of research and I will put out a revised version sometime this fall-when eating soup is welcomed. It’s 88 degrees here and making soup on a hot day was not the best idea. But, I wanted something that tasted good and put a smile on my face. Have you made homemade Zuppa Toscana Soup before? What were your opinions on it?

S’more Stuffed Monkey Bread

I went on Vacation to see my in-laws in Indianapolis this past week. During our stay, I made S’more Stuffed Monkey Bread. It was a huge hit, as everyone there loves S’mores.

Although, the ingredients were a little old and dried out, it still came out pretty good!

If you don’t want to use premade packaged biscuits you can use this recipe:

Restless Chipotle: S’mores Monkey Bread

Ingredients:

16 honey butter biscuits

9 graham crackers, broken into crumbs

20 large marshmallows, melted

12 large marshmallows, chopped

3 bars of Hershey chocolate, melted

3 bars of Hershey chocolate, chopped

1 stick of butter, melted

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray bundt pan with cooking/baking spray. Melt butter. Break the graham crackers into crumbs by putting them into a large Ziploc bag and running your rolling pin over them or put them through your food processor.  Add butter to graham cracker crumbs and mix. Cut a slit into each biscuit, creating a pocket, one at a time, and fill with marshmallows and chocolate and then pinch to seal. Place the biscuit into the graham cracker crumbs and coat, then place into bundt pan, seam side up. Bake 15-20 minutes until biscuits are done and brown.

While the bundt cools, after taking it out of the oven, melt your chocolate and marshmallow and place into a Ziploc or piping bag after they cool slightly and pipe over bread. I was going to pipe marshmallow over mine, but I ended up burning my marshmallows and I was unable to do so. I sprinkled the remaining graham cracker crumbs over the top.

Smokey Ranch Saltine Crackers

I know everyone buys saltine crackers. But do you ever think about what to do with them after you’ve already used most of the package with your soups and salads, or perhaps your children love peanut butter on them? This recipe is partly my own, but I got inspiration from a few sources. These are smokey, salty and ranch crackers.

Buns in my Oven: Firecrackers

Many other websites and blogs share this same recipe. I couldn’t find much variation. So I came up with a slight twist on it.

Ingredients:

a few tablespoons to 1/4 cup Canola Oil

1 sleeve of saltine crackers

1 gallon size Ziploc bag, or a big bowl with a lid

1 packet of dry ranch dressing mix

a few tablespoons of smoked paprika

a few tablespoons of chili powder

Directions:

Add all ingredients into Ziploc bag or bowl and shake. Place onto an oiled cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes.

 

Strawberry Fruit Leather

Here is another fruit leather recipe for strawberry fruit leather. Blend your strawberries (I used about 5-10 large strawberries) and add a teaspoon of lemon juice. Pour into a sauce pan and bring to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Let it cool down to warm and add to your lightly oiled dehydrator fruit leather tray. Spread out the mixture and dehydrate at 135 degrees for 4-6 hours. My son loved these so much, he ate the whole batch! Much healthier than fruit roll-ups or fruit by the foot. NO added sugar!

A Pork Loin Cooking Method

Usually you cook pork loins on the grill or you bake them or even possibly put them in a crock pot to cook for a few hours. I learned this method through having see ladies do demos at Sams Club and after being a Demo Supervisor myself.

I use the prepackaged porkloins that you find at your local grocery store. They are usually seasoned.  I used a bbq flavored one for this one.

They come out so tender and juicy and full of flavor. You will wonder why you haven’t cooked them like this before. I used bottle bbq at the end to reinforce the bbq flavor of the marinade that was already on the pork.

After opening the package and placing your pork loin on your plastic cutting board, you will need to cut medialions out of them by cutting one inch thickness in width. Place in a lightly oiled pan at medium high heat. You will probably need to turn down the heat to medium as you are cooking. Do not crowd the pan with the pork or you will end up boiling them instead of browning them. Cook them and flip them until there is virtually no more pink. Place on a plate and cook the remaining pork. After they are finished cooking, add the rest back in and add some bbq sauce and wait for it to thicken and coat the pork. Serve and enjoy!

Brown Sugar Bacon and Baked Chewy Bacon

So, one of the reasons why I’m not a vegetarian is because of my love of bacon. I can’t give up the stuff! This recipe will make you addicted to it, so be warned!

I love chewy bacon. I never really understood peoples love of crispy bacon. I don’t think you can get the real flavor of the bacon if it’s practically burnt to a crisp. I like mine like the taste of jerky. Tender, chewy, salty, full of flavor. I want to taste what I’m eating, not a crisp version of it. You are welcome to disagree.

I was making BLT’s and I didn’t want to sit at a skillet all night getting splattered upon by the bacon fat. So I decided to bake it for once, but still make it chewy. There are virtually no oven-baked chewy bacon recipes on the internet (that I saw). To make crispy bacon, you bake it at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.

To make chewy bacon in the oven:

Bake your bacon-thick cut works best, at 335-350 for 20-30 minutes, turning frequently. (I sprayed my pan with cooking spray)

To make brown sugar bacon, do the above, but add brown sugar to the top, then once you flip it over, sprinkle some on the other side. Bake for the same amount of time but be careful because the brown sugar will burn!

If  you want stiff, good tasting brown sugar bacon, place the bacon on parchment paper or oiled wax paper and place in the refrigerator to harden. It will almost taste like candy!

You could eat it as is, or add it to your breakfast routine, add to your BLT, hamburger or sandwich. You could even add it to the top of a maple brown sugar cupcake, cake or cookie.

I ate all of mine and I only shared one piece. Yeah, I know . . .but it was so good.

Avocado Ranch Sauce

We had a few avocados to use and I thought this recipe would be perfect since my husband is always making salads.

Inspiration: See Aimee Cook: Creamy Avocado Ranch Dressing

1/2 avocado, roughly chopped
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup sour cream or greek yogurt
2 tsp. olive oil
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 small bunch chives, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp. fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
Up to 1/2 cup buttermilk
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor starting with 1/4 cup of the buttermilk. Blend for 10 seconds. Check consistency and taste and blend in additional buttermilk if desired. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Enchildas with Homemade Sauce

I usually make something Mexican inspired at least once a week. This is a healthy dinner idea and the stuffing for the tortillas is good just like it is.

Here is what you’ll need:

• any size tortillas
• canned beans- all one kind or a combination (drained and rinsed)
• cilantro- minced
• shredded cheese
• beef, chicken or tofu
• cherub tomatoes-quartered or halved
• homemade enchilada sauce (see recipe below)
• lime juice
• corn (frozen then thawed, fresh, or canned then drained)

Directions:

1. Drain and rinse your canned beans, and place into a large bowl. Add your cut up cherub tomatoes and corn. Add in your shredded cheese and a little bit of lemon juice along with your cilantro.
2. Cook your beef, chicken or tofu then add it to your mixture.
3. Meanwhile make the enchilada sauce (recipe below) and allow to cool. Then add it to your mixture.
4. Mix all the ingredients together and add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Spread your sauce over the bottom of the pan, enough to cover the bottom.
6. Add your mixture to your tortillas and roll them up and place in the pan (I use a pyrex glass dish), seam side down.
7. Cover the middle of the tortillas with your sauce and sprinkle shredded cheese over the top.
8. Place your pan in a preheated 350 degree oven and melt the cheese, heat through the enchiladas for about 15 minutes.
9. Allow to cool slightly before removing from pan.

Enchilada sauce can be made in a variety of ways. Some with tomato paste and water, others with tomato sauce and water or even with flour and spices. . With my recipe I added tomato sauce, tomato paste and water, with some vinegar.

Here are the links to the different ways to make it:

Using tomato sauce: Tide and Thyme: Homemade Enchilada Sauce

Using flour and spices: Gimmie Some Oven: Red Enchilada Sauce

Using tomato paste: Our Table For Seven: Homemade Enchilada Sauce

Enchilada Sauce:

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons onion powder
• 4 tablespoons cumin
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 can tomato sauce (omit this for less of a tomato taste and it will be thinner)
• 3 ounces tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 1 cup of water
• salt and pepper to taste

Saute garlic in pan for a few minutes. Add spices and brown until aromatic. Add rest of ingredients and simmer on medium heat after it comes to a boil for 10-20 minutes. Allow to cool then add to your recipe or store in a mason jar. Will last about 3 months in the refrigerator.

After you assemble and bake the enchiladas this is what they should look like:

No Bake Granola Snack

I had a package of granola from Bob Red Mills that I needed to use up since it was about to expire.

The inspiration from my recipe came from here: Cookie Madness: No Bake Granola Bars

Mine didn’t turn out exactly like that.

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light-brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 cups granola
• 1/2 cup frozen semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup toasted and chopped almonds (or 1/2 cup trail mix, chopped)
• 1/2 cup raisins (or use another 1/2 cup trail mix, chopped

I didn’t have the brown sugar, or the honey so I used karo syrup instead. I used crasins and mixed nuts. I didn’t have any chocolate chips.

Let’s just say they fell apart and were very sticky. Still good though, but didn’t hold shape. My husband snacks on the sugary granola mess when he comes home.

Directions:

1. Line a 9×13 inch pan with nonstick foil. If making a half batch, use an 8 inch pan.
2. Melt the butter in a nonstick saucepan. Stir in the salt, sugar, honey and maple syrup and bring to a boil. Boil gently for 2 minutes to dissolve the sugar, then remove from the heat and let cool for about 5 minutes. Stir in the vanilla and let cool for another 10 minutes, but not so long that it becomes stiff. The point of letting it cool is so that it’s not so hot as to melt the chocolate.
3. Meanwhile, crush the granola with a rolling pin. Combine the crushed granola with the cold chocolate chips, nuts and raisins (or trail mix).
4. When the sugar mixture has cooled slightly, stir it into the granola mixture
5. Stir until fully blended, then press it as tightly as you can into the pan. Let cool at room temperature for about a half hour, then score the bars without separating. Chill until firm. Lift from the pan and separate the bars.

I think next time I will acquire all the ingredients before attempting a recipe.