Organic Kale Chips

Whenever possible, M and I have been buying organic produce, meat, and dairy.  There are certain fruits and vegetables that you should always eat organic.  Rule of thumb, if you peel the skin before you eat it, you don't need to buy organic, like oranges and bananas.  However, everything else, from greens to berries to apples should be organic.  And organic milk tastes soooo much better, right Mom and Sister?

Kale - before placing in the oven

With that said, we have a suffice supply of organic produce in our fridge - especially kale.  It's been on sale for $0.99 at our local grocery store, so we keep purchasing it and adding this leafy green to different dishes, soups, and drinks. My latest kale creation - kale chips.  
You'll need:
1 bunch of organic kale
1-2 tablespoons organic extra virgin olive oil
1 gallon-size Ziploc bag
cooking spray and cookie sheet 
salt to taste

Kale chips - after cooking in the oven

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 275°F and spray the cookie sheet with cooking spray.
2. Wash the kale and remove the leaves from the stock.  Chop the kale into bite-size pieces.
3. Add the chopped kale and olive oil to the Ziploc bag.
4. Close and shake the bag so the olive oil is evenly distributed on all the kale leaves.
5. Add salt. Close and shake again.
6. Spread out the kale on the cookie sheet and cook for 15-25 minutes, depending on your oven.  Kale chips should be crispy, but not burned. 

Note - I checked the kale at 15 minutes and stirred and continued to check it every 5 minutes thereafter, until the edges were crunchy like a chip.  

Mushroom and Kale Soup

M and I have been on a soup-kick this winter/early spring and this one was AMAZING!  We had leftover mushrooms from some previous dishes, like our chicken fried rice and Tom Kha Gai, so we included them in this one-pot meal.  I was inspired to make mushroom and kale soup after I sampled it at a recent yoga workshop and also from reading this blog. 

We included: straw mushrooms, dried mushrooms - which we re-hydrated, shiitake mushrooms, 2 bay leaves, a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, 1 can of beef broth, 1 beef bouillon cube, 1 can of water, butter, olive oil, chopped kale, onions, carrots, celery, and about a 1/4 cup of coconut milk at the end. 

Kale and Potato Zuppa

Looking for a new kale dish?  This was a delicious and hearty soup. Last week,  I ate it for lunch everyday.  The potatoes absorbed most of the broth, so I might add more chicken broth next time.  Here's the recipe.

Cooking Notes: I added salt and pepper, which wasn't in the recipe and used russet potatoes, not Yukon Gold, because that's what we had in the pantry.  Also I didn't sprinkle any cheese on top and it was still tasty.