Foodie Friday: GREEN smoothies and chips!

Happy Friday! Here are the promised 2 recipes since I failed to post one last Friday.

Kale. It became a fad. And then it became a fad to hate on that fad. Poor kale. I'm sure the vegetable has been around long before it was ever cool to consume and I'm sure it will be around long after it's hipness factor wears off. Like baked potatoes. Except that kale actually is really good for you. So, can it really be a bad thing that it's become popular? That more people are eating kale....could our society have much, much worse problems? I think so. 

I say all this because both of my recipes feature KALE! 

First up, we have a Green Smoothie, the smoothie of the month, according to Food Network. This concoction is quite tart and refreshing, a perfect spot of brightness in a sometimes dreary January. It feels SO fresh, healthy, and light. Yet it has enough calories and fiber to be a good breakfast, snack, or component of a meal. If you're not a fan of tart flavors, perhaps you could add some honey. The sweetness will also be affected by the tartness or sweetness of your fruit, of course. 

The ginger in this smoothie adds a warm spiciness and a lot of depth. The pineapple, ginger, and lemon juice compliment each other wonderfully. The kale and green grapes seem to be a foundation for those stronger flavors (and they make it green!). The flavors in this smoothie are truly fun. 

I apologize for not having a better picture...

Green Smoothie

Food Network

• 1 cup cubed pineapple
• 1 cup chopped kale, packed 
• 1 cup frozen green grapes
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon finely grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground flax seeds

Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend away! Drink immediately. 

Serves 1.

Next up, we have kale chips! After I had made several of the aforementioned green smoothies I realized I was going to have a lot of kale leftover. I bought too much. I decided a quick and easy way to use it would be to make kale chips. 

Believe it or not, I've never made kale chips. I've eaten them once or twice, but never made them myself. Oh She Glows has great tips and a pretty good recipe. These are extremely flavorful....almost too flavorful? But good. Next time I will not tear my kale into such small pieces because they really shrink a lot in the oven. Also, I might go a tad bit easier on the spices next time. I adore flavorful foods, but this was intense. 

This recipe did give me an excuse to purchase nutritional yeast, which I've been wanting to try for months now after reading about it in so many blogs. It's interesting, good stuff! Adds a lot of flavor in a sort of weird way. 

I ended up sprinkling these kale chips on my lunchtime salads, which really gave the salad a great flavor!

Kale Chips

Adapted from Oh She Glows

• I had about 1 1/2 bunches of kale
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 3 teaspoons garlic powder
• 3 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Tear your kale into large pieces, wash the pieces, and let them dry thoroughly on paper towels. Once they're good and dry, in a large bowl, massage the olive oil into the kale pieces. Then, sprinkle on all the seasonings and combine well. 

On a parchment paper lined baking sheet, spread the kale out in a single layer. Bake for 10 minutes at 300 degree, then rotate the pan and bake for another 15 minutes. 

Allow the kale chips to cool for a few minutes. Then they're ready to eat! After the first day, they will get kind of soggy/chewy; they're best the day you bake them. 

Serves 3-4, I think.