Brown Sugar Kale Chips

You may remember my entry on sauteed kale back in January. And if you do remember that entry, you may also remember me stating I wasn't a huge fan of kale, mostly due to the texture. Well this recipe totally changes my opinion of kale. For the good. Crispy, sweet, and snackable brown sugar kale chips are AWESOME.

It all started when my colleague made me try her homemade baked chipotle kale chips. I was pretty 'eh' on the idea, but I went for it and was pleasantly surprised. I didn't mind them. Then she mentioned I may like brown sugar ones even more and explained the recipe (which I am only recalling by memory here...) Turns out, I love brown sugar kale chips!!! And I would like to share the recipe... so here it is!


Brown Sugar Kale Chips
Takes about 15 minutes to prep and 20-25 minutes to bake. Serves about 3 people. (Unless you're like me and eat the whole thing...)


Ingredients:
1 bunch of fresh kale
1 1/2 tbs olive oil
1/2 - 3/4 cup brown sugar




Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with tin foil.



2. Wash kale and lay out on a towel (or paper towels) to dry. To help the kale dry quickly, use a towel (or paper towels) and pat down the kale by hand. I hear you can also use a salad spinner to help. Try to get the kale as dry as possible.





3. Tear kale into chip-sized pieces and place in a large bowl. Note: Do not include the stems.





4. Add a splash (about 1 1/2 tbs) of olive oil and mix in with your hands.





5. Add the brown sugar and mix in with your hands. I eyeballed the amount. I just kept adding more until I felt it was well coated.



6. Spread kale mixture across a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until crispy and slightly brown.




7. Be sure to remove from the baking sheet as soon as possible. The more time the kale chips have to cool, the more they will stick to the tin foil!!!

Vegan "Chicken" Fried Rice

So irritated! I seriously need to invest in a food processor. Anyone have any suggestions for one that is reasonably priced and does the job??? I've been reading reviews on Amazon forever, but get mixed results. I wanted to make these really tasty looking chick pea burgers for dinner tonight, but when I got home with all the ingredients, I reread the recipe that said I needed to process the ingredients!!! GRRRRRR... (If only my blender wasn't crappy, I would have tried that.)

Anyway, I ended up throwing this together with the help of Amanda (Check out her blog!). Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!!

Vegan "Chicken" Fried Rice
 Takes about 30 minutes to make and serves 3-4 people. (You can easily add my more ingredients to make more.)

Ingredients: 1/2 yellow onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 cups mixed veggies (I used 3 small carrots, 1/2 red bell pepper, left over yellow squash and zucchini)
soy sauce to taste
rice vinegar to taste
olive oil
handful of MorningStar's Meal Starters chik'n strips, chopped into small pieces
4 cups white rice




Directions
1. Prep all veggies and set aside.
2. Begin cooking rice as per the directions provided.



3. In a large skillet, brown the onion and garlic with olive oil.
4. Add mixed veggies and saute until soft.





5. In a small pan, add heat some olive oil and cook the chick'n strips. Add to veggie mixture when done. Note that these cook very quickly, as they're pre-cooked faux meat.



6. When rice is done cooking, add rice to skillet and mix in a few splashes of soy sauce and a small splash of rice vinegar. Cook until well blended. Serve warm.

Mmmmmmmm.....