Kale Chips and...

How to Rescue Recipe Failures.

But first the kale chips, which are one the fastest, easiest and healthiest thing to do when you have massive amounts of kale you have to use up.

I first removed the tough inside stems and then chopped up the kale into 1.5-2 inch pieces and placed them into a baking dish. Then I mixed up a little olive oil, salt, pepper and for flavor, smoked paprika, poured over the kale and tossed it well with my hands- almost like massaging them.

  

I then roasted them in the oven at 400 degree and tossed the around every 10-15 min. Note: they will wilt and get soft before they start to crisp, you will have to be patient and have faith. They are done when they begin to turn brownish and become crispy. Another thing, even if you think you have a lot of kale, they will shrink down to a fraction of their original volume.

These are  delicious and healthy snack; I like to make a quick yogurt dip for them- plain greek yogurt, salt, pepper and a little crushed toasted cumin seeds. They are best eaten when fresh out of the oven.

Confession and Part II: 

I have had many and still have noble failures in the kitchen. I made two mistakes: I forgot how much they shrink down and added salt with the original amount of kale in mind so they turned out too salty; and I covered the bowl with foil and it was a humid night so the next day the kale chips were no longer crispy. So like anything else I don't like to face, I ignored them sitting on the dining table for about a week.

I finally decided to look at them today, they were still salty and chewy but believe it or not they were also still good. I cannot for the life of me let food go to waste unless it can walk itself out the door. So I decided to transform them.

I looked in the fridge and found some baby potatoes that I was saving (as in, keeping it from getting spoiled) and some garlic scapes. I chopped up the garlic scapes, sliced potatoes and fried them in some olive oil.

 

[If it looks like there are other things in the oil, it's because there are; I was pan-frying something else in some indian-spiced oil with mustard seeds, cumin and turmeric. I was too lazy to clean it out so I just added to it.] I added kale after the potatoes were cooked and a little browned. I did not add any salt or other seasonings because of the over-salted kale. 

   

It tasted a little plain to me and I wanted to spice it up a little. When looking in my fridge, someone recently commented that I had a lot of condiments, and like now, that comes in pretty handy. I could have chosen any number of flavors and/or spices in various jars and containers (that's another post), but I chose a couple chipotle peppers to chop up and add to complement the smoked paprika in the kale. This made it much better.

These were tasty as is and I've been picking at it from the bowl. It makes a great side dish, especially with the yogurt sauce from above. But even this can be transformed:

1) Beat about 4-5 eggs with some milk or cream, pour over the top of the sautéed veg (see below), top with shredded cheese and bake in the oven until set for a frittata.

 2) Add your favorite meat (or leave it vegetarian) and hot sauce, warm up some corn tortillas and use as filling and top with cheese and salsa for tacos. Or use to make a wrap with yogurt sauce.

3) Top it with a poached/fried egg and call it breakfast.

Most of the time, there is always a way to right a recipe gone wrong!