Cheesy Vegetable Kale Chips

Those delicious cheesy kale chips you can buy at the store are delicious and oh-so-healthy, but at about $5 a bag they are quite an investment. This is a pretty easy batch you can whip up for about half the price, yielding about 3-5 times as many chips. SCORE!

(If you want a simpler, faster roasted kale recipe without all of the cheesiness, I gotcha covered too)

This recipe is super fleixble. You can make them in the oven or dehydrator, using a blender or food processor, and you can even mix up the ingredients if you want. Swap lime juice for the lemon and squirt in some sriracha sauce. Use sun dried tomatoes instead of a carrot. Go nuts and be creative and enjoy the magical disappearing act that follows (read: these taste great and you will eat them quickly).

Onward to the recipe!

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Hollylujah! Onion Rings

There's a burger spot in our neighborhood with vegan options, and my boyfriend and I like to go there after an active day, or when we're simply feeling indulgent. I love their vegan and portobello burgers, but their onion rings are the BEST, and probably the reason we go about once a month. They're beer-battered and deep fried and probably not even vegan though, so I've been jonesing to come up with a healthier alternative to make at home.

The idea to make them with almonds was always there, in order to lower the carbs and make the fats healthier. But I started off a bit over-zealous, planning to make the almond milk at home and dehydrate the leftover almond crumbles to turn into almond flour and a crunchy coating. This is exactly what I did, but it took forever, so next time I will probably simplify a bit. :) In fact, I have come up with a simple method, so I will share all of your options in this post, depending on where you fall on the zealous-ometer.

Note: I will continue to tweak this recipe and add more photos and an instructional video. But if you can't wait, give it a go!

On to the recipe...

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Lentil Walnut Burgers/Ninja Nuggets

The last few days before a vacation are a great opportunity for creative cooking. As I attempt to empty my fridge and pantry without having to buy more groceries, I always seem to discover or create new recipes that I continue to experiment with when I return.

I'm leaving for LA tomorrow, and I've already cleared out most of my perishables (hence the lack of exciting new recipe posts!), so I found myself experimenting with dry ingredients yesterday. I had a particular abundance of lentils and walnuts, so I started searching for a new burger recipe.

Enter Oh She Glows, one of my absolute favorite blogs, with a Lentil Walnut Burger recipe for which I had everything on hand. SOLD!

They look a bit like cookies, but they are delicious savory burgers, I promise!

I followed the recipe exactly, with one main exception: I didn't have bread crumbs. I had corn flakes, which I usually use as a substitute anyway, but I had something else I had been meaning to use up that would be perfect: almond pulp! This is the by-product of making almond milk: dry, crumbly almond bits that can be ground into almond meal or flour, and, so I've heard, used in place of bread crumbs in recipes. It's incredibly versatile stuff, so I like to keep it around.

So since that's the only sub I made, you can grab the recipe here, and substitute the bread crumbs, or not. The almond pulp worked great, and the recipe held together really well.

Oh, that brings me to this other thing I tried...I got these ninjabread men cookie cutters a while back, and have been meaning to use them. Since the batter was so solid and cookie dough-like, I molded some of it into ninjas. :) Ninja nuggets! I'm going to have to play with this idea a bit more and bread them next time. These were way too much fun to play with...

This is what happens when you put all of your ninja nuggets on the same plate...

And that's it! I'm off to pack for LA, and hopefully I'll have some delicious new posts for you while I'm gone. Have a great week!

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Hollylujah Hummus

Hummus, you know I love you. You're the perfect dip and sandwich spread, you are a delicious and easy source of protein, but we've got to talk. You're packed with oil, and everyone knows it. You're not fooling anyone. What we have is beautiful and I don't want it to end, but just hope I can change you, so that I can enjoy you without all of the guilt.

Turns out hummus is pretty flexible. Check out this new and improved version of my love, with a quarter of the oil, half the salt, and all of the taste.

Inspired by and adapted from my favorite hummus recipe, which you can find here.

Hollylujah Hummus Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 can garbanzo beans/chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tbs. olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 3-5 tablespoons low-sodium vegetable broth or water
• a few dashes of paprika (optional)

Method

1. Begin by blending the lemon juice and tahini in a food processor or blender. Scrape the sides between blending to keep everything evenly mixed.
2. Add the garlic, olive oil, salt, cumin, and 3 tbsp. of broth or water and blend a few more times, scraping in between.
3. Slowly add the garbanzos/chickpeas and continue to blend, adding more broth or water to reach the desired consistency.
4. Serve with a few dashes of paprika if desired!

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Roasted Kale Chips Recipe

Kale is one of those vegetables that can do no wrong. It's both nutrient-dense and versatile in recipes. My personal favorite uses are to either steam it and cover it with sauces and stews, or dehydrate/bake it into a crispy chip. Today I'll be sharing a quick and simple way to make a crunchy side dish of kale while you're preparing a meal. All you need is some kale, and any oil/seasonings that you like. This recipe is oven-baked, but stay tuned if you have a dehydrator, I have plenty of kale recipes for that!

Roasted Kale Chips Recipe

Ingredients (Serves 4-6)

• 1 bunch kale, de-stemmed and cut into small pieces
• I often use a bag of trader joe's organic tuscan kale, as I did in this post. Even with ready-to-go kale, however, you can de-stem a little further if you want just the leaves. I skipped that step this time, but I do it when I have more time, and recommend it!
• Just enough oil to coat the kale, about 1/2 - 2tbs.
• I often use olive oil, sometimes sesame or coconut when I'm going for a different flavor. Any oil will do!
• Seasonings to taste 
• I just used sea salt and crushed pepper today. I've done this with lemon pepper, sesame seeds, a little lemon or lime juice, 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 250° F. (You can do 300° F or possibly higher if you're in a hurry or baking something at a different temp, just be prepared to check the oven often to avoid burning.)
2. Prepare your kale, and toss in a bowl with the oil and seasonings until coated evenly. I use my Misto sprayer to use as little oil as possible while still evenly coating the chips. That's why I'm not sure exactly how much I'm using :)
3. Spread the kale evenly on a baking sheet or two, and bake for 15-20 minutes until crispy. Check the oven often and rearrange the chips if necessary to insure even baking. The exact time will depend on your oven, the temperature you bake it at, and how much oil you used, so the first time you make these you'll figure out what works best for you.
4. When they're done, remove from the oven and enjoy immediately! If you manage to have any leftovers, store them in the refrigerator and reheat in the oven at 200° F. 

I made these while I cooked Happy Herbivore's Caribbean Sweet Potatoes (which is one of my favorite recipes for using up apples). That recipe is from Everyday Happy Herbivore, which can be found here.

Have a beautiful Sunday!

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