Desperate Times Lead To Delicious Treasures

One of my favorite things lately has been these baked blue corn tortilla chips from Trader Joe's.  I have been eating them with salsa, guacamole, hummus, you name I dipped these in it.  Well on a trip there yesterday they were out of them.  How will I ever survive a week without them?   Well as I pondered this in my kitchen staring into the fridge something caught my eye, a pack of corn tortillas I had purchased last week and remained unused.  Queue the lightbulb above my head.  

I set out to make a baked corn tortilla chips with as little or no oil as I could.  Well turns out you need none.  These turned out crispy and yummy.  Just wish I had made a double batch, soon as Dan found them they were gone....guess they were pretty good as he is a self proclaimed tortilla chip expert.  Just ask him about his life long quest to find the best nachos. 

Low Fat Baked Chili Lime Tortilla Chips

12 corn tortillas

2 limes

salt to taste (about 5 grinds of the salt grinder)

chili powder to taste (optional)

non-stick cooking spray

Pre heat over to 400 degrees

Cut tortillas into 8 triangular pieces (or whatever shapes you may fancy)

Place on a cookie sheet and lightly spray with non-stick spray (I had to do mine in 2 batches).  Take 1 lime each batch and juice over the tortillas, add salt and chili powder and mix all together.  

Place in the over for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown and crispy, shaking the pan and turning the pieces once in a while.  

Place on a cooling rack to cool and if they are still around enjoy with your favorite salsa or the super easy crowd pleasing guacamole recipe below!

This is my go-to guacamole recipe.  I bring this to parties or just make at home to be selfish and enjoy all by myself :)  It is always a crowd pleaser.

Guacamole

3 ripe avocados (should have a little give when you gently squeeze it)

1 lime

1 clove garlic - minced

1 tomato - finely diced

1/2 cup onion (red, yellow, green whatever you like) - finely chopped

1 tsp salt

pinch of cayenne pepper

Cut avocados in half, remove the pit and set aside one pit to add to the guac later.  Scoop out the avocado from it's skin and place in a bowl.  Squeeze the lime juice into the bowl and add the garlic.  Mash until smooth with just a little bit of chunk in there.  Stir in tomatoes, onions, salt & cayenne.  Add the pit back in to keep the guacamole green longer (I don't know how it works but it certainly does).  

Kale A Day Keeps The Doctor Away

Okay, so it wasn't until I started juicing (see earlier post on that one) that I had even given kale a second thought.  It is just another green, leafy vegetable right?

That was all before I found out what a super super food kale is.  Need some vitamin c, eat some kale....need some fiber, eat some kale...want to lower your risk of cancer...eat some kale.  That's enough to convince me to have some.

Kale has gotten quite a bit of attention lately due to the fact that a famous chicken restaurant...won't say who but they are not open on Sundays decided to sue a guy just making some t-shirts about kale because they didn't want people to confuse kale for chicken.  Now one would assume the american public is a little more intelligent then that, but clearly aforementioned chicken company has very little faith in their customers.  Actually, I am pretty sure we could solve a lot of health issues in this country if people starting confusing kale for fried chicken...

I make Kale Chips just about weekly and have some on hand to snack on.  It is simple and easy to do, but also easy to burn so make sure you stand by just in case.  I like to make them with a little asian flavor, but they do just fine with a little olive oil, salt & pepper.

Kale Chips

3 kale leaves 

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp sesame seeds

1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Tear the kale leaves into pieces as big as you would like the chips, I typically tear them into what would be bite size pieces.  Don't use the stems, these will not turn out chip like.  You can toss them or use them later in a veggie broth or something if you have a lot of time to do that (I think the box of veggie broth from Trader Joes is just fine and takes zero time).  

Make sure you wash and dry the leaves well.  I find that a salad spinner does best here, not to mention is super fun to use.  

Toss the kale with the oils, seeds, and salt.  I find that this little amount of oil is just fine.  You don't want to much because soggy kale chips are not good kale chips.  

Place kale chips on a cookie sheet in a single layer.

Cook in oven for 8-10 minutes.  Checking them often to make sure they don't burn, just like soggy kale chips, burnt kale chips are not good.  When the chips are crispy remove from the oven and enjoy all the nutrients you are consuming!