Black bean veggie burger served with a generous portion of baked kale chips.
Alright, I know what kale chips sound like. And these are baked kale chips, no less. But you’ve got to believe me when I say, they’re awesomely delicious! And much easier to make than baked potato chips or even sweet potato chips. Better yet, served with a healthy dipping sauce, they are indeed kid-friendly.
Ingredients:
1 bunch of curly-style kale (about 6 ounces)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 or 4 shakes of sea salt (or to taste)
1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar
Sprinkle with crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Wash and dry kale well.
- Pull the large leaves off of the thick stems of the kale.
- Tear kale into large, chip-sized pieces.
- Toss with oil, vinegar and salt.
- Optional: sprinkle with red pepper flakes.
- Arrange on 1 or two baking sheets in a single layer. TIP: Use parchment paper for easy cleanup.
- Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until kale is crisp and slightly brown. Your chips should be very light and crispy — be sure to bake longer if they aren’t.
- Serve with a dipping sauce of choice — ketchup, healthy ranch, BBQ — and your favorite sandwich!
Although, I recently came out as a bona fide Chegan, there’s no need to go that route with this “cheesy” soup. Adapted from the Moosewood Low-fat Favorites cookbook, this soup was a hit with my family and even Chelsea at Roots Market!
What makes this soup so cheesy, I think, is the fresh lemon. It certainly wasn’t the intention of the recipe writers to make the soup cheesy, but in my version of the recipe, that’s how it turns out. The other reason this works so well is the fact that you puree the soup — this gives it the creamy “cheesy” smoothness without the cheese.
Ingredients:
2 cups chopped onions
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
3 cups diced potatoes
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup peeled and chopped carrots
1 medium head cauliflower, chopped (about five cups)
3 tsp. dried dill
1-2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. dried mustard
1/4 tsp. caraway seeds
5 cups vegetable broth (or 5 cups water with 2 tbsp. vegetable Better Than Bouillon)
Salt to taste
Optional: Green onions for garnish.
Directions:
- In a soup pot, saute onions, garlic, celery and carrots in about 1/2 cup of broth or water until all veggies are soft.
- Add all of the rest of the ingredients, except lemon juice, and bring to a boil. (Be careful not to use too much water. Water should be just below the top of all the ingredients in your pot.)
- Reduce to a simmer and simmer until veggies are tender, around 10 to 12 minutes.
- Add about half of the soup to a blender and puree until smooth.
- Stir the pureed mixture into the remaining soup.
- Serve topped with green onions.
