Kale-ifornia Dreamin'

(Can’t say I’m not California Dreamin‘ as well.)

I finally got around to making those kale chips everyone’s been talkin‘ about. I must admit that at first bite, these chippies weren’t really my cup of tea. They were too crispy, too crunchy, too… well, just not the taste I expected. But, as you can see from the following pictures, the green guys must have grown on me, because lately I’ve been a mean, green, kale-eatin‘ machine!

Photos:

Kale Chips, Take 1– with roasted butternut squash, baked tofu, and an Ezekiel 7-grain pita drenched in Hunts’ tomato sauce (my newest favorite way to eat the pitas; it’s like a cheeseless pizza, and the sauce makes the pita all soggy, which is exactly how I like it).

Kale Chips, Take 2– with garlic-sauteed red peppers, vegan-buttered toast, Lightlife chickn strips, Westbrae ketchup, and a crisp Gala apple

Kale Chips, Take 3– Another saucy pita, more chickn strips, some 5-spice-stir-fried veggies, and a small piece of a dark chocolate bar made for a very happy CCV’s tummy.

Kale Chips, Take One Million (errr, 4)– Yet another pita, this time dipped in the sauce/ another apple that was too big for its britches (a.k.a. the plate)/ 1/4 of a vegan quiche! Yumlicious, indeed!

Katie’s Lazy-Girl Quiche
(based loosely off of Susan’s mini quiche recipe)

Ingredients:

• 1 red pepper (you don’t even have to slice it first– yay!)
• 1 heaping cup mushrooms
• about 3/4 of a box of Mori-Nu firm tofu (I would’ve used the whole box, but I’d already used the other 1/4 in a different recipe. I’m sure the result would be pretty much the same with whole box.)
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (I cut back on the amount in the original recipe because I don’t like a strong nutritional-yeast flavor)
• 1 tablespoon freeze-dried chives
• 1/2 teaspoon dried Rosemary
• 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 2/3 teaspoon salt
• I completely forgot about adding the garlic! But the result was so yummy anyway that I probably won’t bother to add it in next time (*gasp* did Garlic-Fiend Katie just say that???). I also didn’t add any tahini, as it’s not an ingredient I usually have on hand.

Procedure:

• Preheat your oven to 375 F.
• Cut out the core and stem of the pepper, then put everything in the blender (Vitamix Super 5200 = best gadget EVER!). Blend until smooth, then transfer to a quiche pan.
• Put the quiche in the oven and check it after 30 minutes (mine was in for about 40 minutes, then I turned the oven off, but left the quiche in… so I’m not exactly sure how long it cooked. Sorry I can’t be more specific than that!)

And now back to your regularly-scheduled kale chips:

Kale Chips, Take 5– with more butternut squash, more sauteed peppers, and hulled-barley pilaf.

Thus ends the first of many “Things that are Green” Week posts.