Kale... The "Queen of Greens"

I RARELY crave potato chips or french fries... just because of the lack of flavor. They're salty and fattening, but I'd much rather something with a lot of different depths of flavor than just the plain oily-salt.  Today...I craved the salty crunch.  After reading many blogs, I learned there's a way around the calorie-dense crunch of fried potatoes.

There are KALE CHIPS!  This is such an easy prepare and satisfying snack that you will not believe it has all the benefiting nutrients that it does.

Here is what I do to create the Queen Greens into something delicious.

You might recognize this pretty green as the decoration alongside a salad bar.

Wash your kale REALLY well and dry it off. It has very porous leaves which will carry the chemicals used in the planting and growing process.  My suggestion is to buy organic if possible.

Cut off the thick stems.

Rip off the leaves in bite-size pieces. Throw out the thick stems that run through the leaves...these will be bitter and chewy.

You don't have to, but to make the chips a bit tastier you can drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.  Sprinkle with sea salt and put into a 400 Degree oven to bake for 10 minutes.

Pile them high and serve with ketchup!

Crunch!

Apple Pie

Easy as pie.

I've had a store-bought pie shell (yes, store bought) in the refrigerator for about 2 months now waiting to be filled. Here is a simple, delicious, heart-warming apple pie recipe.

Apple Pie Recipe

4 tart apples, peeled and cut (Granny Smith, Golden Delicious. Stay away from McIntosh or Cortland..they get mushy)
1 stick unsalted butter
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 pre-made pie crust box or make your own

Directions:
1. Melt the stick of butter on low heat in a deep sauce pan.
2. Add the flour to create a sort of paste.
3. Add sugars and cinnamon. Stir.
4. Add water and continue to stir on medium heat creating a syrup-like consistency.
5. Peel and cut the apples.
6. Stir the apples in with the sugar-mixture.
7. Roll out pie crust.
8. Pour the apples in the pie crust and cover with the other pie crust.
9. Poke some holes in the top.
10. Bake it at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.
      Turn the heat down to 350 degrees and bake it for another 35-45 minutes.

Yummm. Start with 1 stick of butter.

Melt the butter in a deep pot on low.

Add the flour and stir until it thickens a bit.
Then there's the sugars, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Pour it in with the melted butter. It will be lumpy, so just keep stirring.

Add the water. Mix, mix, mix, and turn the heat up a bit.

It'll thicken. You want it like a syrup.

Apple time!

I peeled and chopped 4 apples. 1 Granny Smith and 3 Honeycrisp.

Peeling off the skin. (Nice New Year's Eve nail polish, huh)

Work station.

All done!

Add the apples to the yummy sugar-cinnamon syrup. Stir.

Next, make sure the dough is room-temperature. I let the box sit out for about 3 hours. If it's cold, it will not be able to roll out well and you'll get frustrated. Trust me, I've struggled with it before.

Thank you Stop and Shop!

Rollllllllllllllll it out.

Fill it up.

Cover it up.

After it's covered, you need to pinch the edges together to seal it. I would pinch it, place my thumb on the inside, and fold it over a little to make a fancy edge.

Cut some slits on top.

If I were to make this again.. I would brush it with an egg white and sprinkle sugar on the top, but I forgot.

I put aluminum foil around the edges after the 15 minutes because it was browning a little too fast.

Slice it up while it's warm! Serve it with ice cream!
A piece of this was my New Year's Eve delight before I went out. To start 2011 off right. :)