Sinning Siracha & Godly Garlic Kale Chips

For those of you wondering, can kale actually become even more awesome than a potato chip? The answer is yes. My roommate who does not eat ANYTHING green, and I'm not even exaggerating here, even she LIKED the kale chips. She ate more than one. I swear it was a miracle because this girl runs away just at the sight of veggies.

A friend back home actually requested that I experiment trying kale chips, the new and improved potato chip trend. And for those of you now wondering,  I do take requests. But you have to be special enough for me to actually honor your wishes. Mhmm, that's right. I have high standards.

Of cooourse I'm kidding.

Apparently I'm feeling sassy this morning so you're going to have to excuse my behavior. I'm always open to trying new recipes so email/text/comment/facebook/yell anything you want me to try.  Forreal guys and girls.

So I put on my thinking cap and walked over to my little bureau/pantry and looked for potential suitors for my kale chips. The garlic powder and siracha were the obvious winners so I made two different batches to see which seasoning I liked better!

In conclusion, I'm not sure which seasoning I liked better. Yup, I'm super helpful. The texture reminds me of the fragility of snowflake and the crunchiness of aluminum foil. Please don't go looking for such objects to eat. I really don't recommend doing so.  Flavor-wise, I don't think you can go wrong with garlicy goodness or siracha. So I would just say pick and choose your winner, or if you're indecisive like me, make em both!

Sinning Siracha Kale Chips

1 bunch kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon siracha

Kosher salt (to taste)

Godly Garlic Kale Chips

1 bunch kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons garlic powder

1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees Farenheit.
2. Wash your kale thoroughly before tearing the leaves apart from the middle rib of the kale leaf.  The center stem doesn't crisp up too well, so you only want the leaves. Tear the leaves into bite size pieces, about the size of a regular potato chip!
3. Make sure to properly dry your leaves. This step is crucial so that your chips are super crisp when they come out of the oven.
4. Drizzle the kale with olive oil and sprinkle the seasoning salt. Mix well so the individual pieces are properly coated.
5. Line the kale in one single layer on a baking sheet, and make sure not to overcrowd the pieces! Bake for about 10 minutes, flip, and bake again for another 10 minutes or until the entire chip is crispy. Expect the siracha kale chips to take longer to bake (~ additional 5 minutes)

Tip:

I actually used two trays for one bunch of kale because the leaves themselves have a large surface area. Telltale signs that your kale chips are done are when they become edges shrink up and the chip becomes brown-ish.  Your chips might actually take longer to become crispy so don't freak out if they are in the oven longer than I suggested. Also, I personally finished all my kale chips within a day, so double or triple the recipe if you want to feed more than one hungry girl.

Oven Baked Garlic Sweet Potato Fries with Feta Yogurt Dip

I have been experimenting all summer long to perfect oven baked sweet potato fries. And I think I might have finally come close with this recipe. The dip was inspired by my favorite food blogger and you can find her take on these fries here, but I personally like my tweaks better. Then again I may be a little biased but you really  won't go wrong with these perfectly crispy fries accompanied by the creaminess of the feta yogurt dip.

Through my experimentation I discovered several things: 

1) I'm not a huge fan of using butter on my fries and prefer to use vegetable oil to coat the potatoes. I find the butter to be a little heavier and I like to think these fries of a healthy snack. But honestly, butter does make your potatoes richer so feel free to sub in butter instead of oil!

2) Stick your cookie sheet in the oven while it's preheating. That way you will hear a nice sizzle when you put the potatoes in and you will get an awesome sear on the outside.

3) Having too little or too much oil is a bad thing when it comes to baking fries. With too little oil your fries don't get crispy, but too buttery and your fries get greasy.

4) I like to steam my potatoes so they are al dente when I stick them in the oven. Steaming them with Ziploc steam bags takes two minutes and that way you don't have to stick them in the oven for a long time.

In my opinion, my go-to college midnight snack!

Garlic Sweet Potato Fries

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled (if desired) and sliced into thin 1/2-inch (thick) strips
2 tablespoons olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley

Feta Yogurt Dip

3 ounces crumbled feta
1/3 cup greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and place a cookie sheet in the oven while it is preheating.

2. Take the sweet potatoes and cut them into 1/2 inch think strips. In a large bowl toss well with olive oil, garlic, paprika, salt, and pepper. Make sure the sweet potatoes are evenly coated with oil.

3. Once oven is preheated, spread sweet potatoes out in a single layer on the cookie sheet. Bake for 5 minutes, remove and flip, and bake for another 5 minute. Depending on how well you cooked the potatoes before baking, you may have to cook for a longer or shorter amount of time. Essentially pull the fries out when they are fully cooked through.

4. Once cooked, remove the fries and add parsley tossing to coat. Serve with the creamy feta dip!

For the dip:
1. Combine all ingredients together and mix well. Ta-da!!

Creamy Garlic Alfredo with Broccoli, Parsley, and Fresh Roma Tomatoes

I had some leftover heavy cream from a cake that I made, and not having any other use for it, I decided to make alfredo for the first time! Alfredo takes less than ten minutes to make and you can start your pasta at the same time you get your sauce going. Making the alfredo was thankfully quick, and it had all the creamy, cheesy goodness you want from your classic sauce. 

Because alfredo is not the healthiest thing in the world, I decided to saute some veggies in the pan to add into my sauce. I used the same pan to cook my veggies, make the sauce, and combine all the ingredients together! I even served my alfredo straight out of the pan because I'm not a fan of doing dishes. Plus I conserved water and time, so no one's complaining :)

While making my alfredo I noticed that my cheese and sauce starting to separate so I quickly put in on low heat and stirred constantly so the ingredients melded together. The reason my ingredients started to separate was because I wasn't continuously whisking, so whisk your alfredo is my advice to you! Other than than my almost-going-to-be-a-problem, I had no other issues and found the recipe straightforward. 

Also if you want to make a this recipe gluten-free friendly just swap out the pasta for whatever gluten-free kind you prefer. I just chose penne because I already had a bag open!

Creamy Garlic Alfredo with Broccoli, Parsley, and Fresh Roma Tomatoes

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com & makes four servings. 

2 cups penne 

5 tablespoons butter

1 cup heavy cream

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 monterey jack cheese

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 cup chopped broccoli

1 roma tomato, diced

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the penne pasta and cook until tender, 8-10 minutes.  Strain water from pot of pasta to stop the pasta from cooking further. 

2.  Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Place broccoli in the skillet and cooked until cooked through. Stir in the diced roma tomato and cook for an additional minute. Remove from heat and place in a separate bowl. 

3. In the clean skillet melt remaining butter over medium low heat. Add the cream and simmer for 5 minutes. Then add garlic and cheese and whisk quickly until heated through. Remove from heat and stir in parsley, broccoli, & tomato. 

See how easy this was? You can mix up your cheese and add whatever toppings you want (bacon sounds delicious).  Hope your alfredo experience was as fast and filling as mine :) Also, I didn't add a whole tbsp of butter to cook my broccoli so just use as much as you need!