Munchie Monday: Air Fryer Eggplant Chips

On Friday I followed the sign to the "American Legion Farmers' Market" and eventually arrived at the correct spot.  It was indoors!  So nice because you never know when rain will be a hazard.  As it happened, I was there about 3:30 in the afternoon.  There were about a dozen "booths" to investigate.  At the very first one I spied some firm plump beautiful eggplants,  not something that has been a big part of our diet.  Ever!  So I made my rounds to all the other tables then circled back.  It was quite the thing to be so popular.  Everyone called out to me as I approached.  People are so friendly...!  As it happened, I was also the only customer in the building at that time.  Nice for me!

Anyway, I chatted with the nice girl about how to cook and use eggplants.  She suggested cutting them into thick rounds and making them the base for tiny pizzas.  What a novel idea!  I thought I would try it.  I did only buy one though since I was pretty sure it would be a hard sell at home, even though Friday is Pizza Day at the ole homestead on Trevino Drive!

Since Dear One likes the pizzas at Aldi, and even though he wanted me to remove the mozzarella from the top which was somewhat fiddle-y, I did bring home what he wanted but then while his was baking, I put the eggplant rounds in the oven to begin cooking.

Once his pizza was cooked I let the eggplant "pizza crusts" cook another 15 minutes in the oven, then transferred them to the air fryer oven where several of them overcooked a bit.  Well, I have never been averse to a little charcoal so I went ahead and ate several.  Dear One was a good sport and ate one bite of one pizza round. (Though pizza round is really a misnomer-there was no pizza sauce nor pizza toppings on the eggplant...just seasonings...)

These eggplant rounds were cooked at 400 degrees F. for a total of about 40 minutes.  They had been spritzed with a tiny bit of olive oil spray then sprinkled with onion, garlic, black pepper, cumin, and a tiny bit of sea salt.  They did not taste half bad.  They still were not crispy, which is what I was hoping for.

In this photo they have just been lollygagging in the air fryer for about 10 minutes...maybe a little too much!

Actually, in this picture they are in pretty good shape...this was after the first five minutes. Still not crispy enough for me. The picture with the dill pickle slices and tomato on a Beyond Burger burger had the full ten minutes.  You can see the char there a bit better. 

By the way, that lettuce was from our own garden!  There is nothing like harvesting delicious greens from your own back deck early in January.  Love it.

Munchie Monday: Quick and Easy Kale Chips!

Kale had been on my mind for a while but I did not really want cooked kale this time.  What to do, what to do...kale chips again.

This time I made kale chips in the microwave at the office.  That microwave is a heavy duty model,  I think. I don't know the wattage but it warms things up very fast.

How I made kale chips was to put the washed, dried, and ripped from the stems kale on a glass plate ready for the microwave. I had a can of the spray oil you use to avoid greasing pans with butter or whatever.  I sprayed a few squirts on the kale pieces then sprinkled on a little bit of salt then put the plate in the microwave for 2 minutes. When I pulled it out, I carefully flipped over the kale then sprayed lightly again, but no more salt.  I put the place of kale back in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes.

It came out bright green and mostly crispy. I let it sit a minute, well, not true, I picked up a piece that was not quite crispy and ate it up.  Then another one, and another.  After about three I let it cool briefly then shared with the Vehicle Coordinator.  Dear One and the President's secretary were not really interested.

Pretty and pretty good.  I was sorry when it was gone.  So quick and easy.

Food Bonus: Kale Chips in Microwave!

On the weekend I saw a video about making kale chips in the microwave.  Sadly, I did not keep track of the source BUT if I had, I would have told you to go watch the source.  Instead, this is what I did.

First thing, always with vegetables and fruit, WASH the kale, then dry it thoroughly.  Using about 3 stems of kale per serving (also per cooking try), strip the kale leaves from the stem.  Break into large-ish pieces.  Put them into a large bowl.  Dribble on 1 teaspoon (yes, teaspoon) of olive oil and toss well with your clean hands.  When all the kale is shiny, indicating a little dab of oil on it,  sprinkle on some coarse salt, some granulated garlic, and a SMALL amount of chili powder.  Toss again with your hands.  (Lick your fingers before going on.  You might need to add a little more garlic or chili powder.  In my case, I thought it was perfect.  Dear One thought the end result was a little high on the spice.)

On a large microwave-safe place, place a piece of parchment paper.  Spread out the kale leaves on it, keeping the overlap to a minimum.  Start heating on high for 3 minutes.  Check the kale.  Move it around a little bit on the paper.  Cook for 3 more minutes.  Check again.  Repeat one more time.  By then the chips might be done.  If absolutely necessary, give them one more minute, then pull them out of the microwave and let cool, if you have the will power.  These are nice and green and tasty and crisp.

The only advantage of baking them in the regular oven is that you can do more at once.  These turned our really well.  Dear One even enjoyed them, though he turned up his nose when I placed the plate on his lap.

Food Friday: Kale Chips for Thanksgiving

Our local son and daughter-in-law invited us to eat  Thanksgiving dinner with them and their family.  They were going to prepare everything.  Did not need us to bring anything, so....my thought was, if we brought something, it would be a bonus.  We brought the leftover raw onion and flax crackers and some freshly "chipped" kale from our garden.  (We have three more plants that I am hoarding, but will have to use them up soon, I am afraid.  Next year I will plant a LOT more.)

To harvest the kale at this end of season, I actually pulled up the three smallest-producing plants, pulled off the leaves and buried the roots and stems in the garden's hay covering, hoping they would begin their composting over the winter.

Next I washed each leaf individually, and VERY well, picking off the pine needles that the recent high winds had blown onto these valiant soldiers in the garden.

After the leaves were clean, I tore the kale off the ribs, making them more or less chip-sized and put them in a large clean stainless steel bowl.

Over the pieces of kale I poured 1 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil then with my very clean hands I gently massaged the oil and kale together.  When each leaf-let had a sheen of oil on it I put on coarse kosher salt (about 1 teaspoon) and freshly ground black pepper (about 1/2 teaspoon), tossed lightly, then put on a pan.

Previously I had set the oven to 225 degrees F to preheat.  Yes, 225.

The pan went into the oven for 20 minutes, after which time I checked on the chips. They were still a glorious green and much of the chips were ready to eat.  Since the rest were not, I put the pan back into the oven for 10 more minutes.  That was actually too long, if green kale chips was our goal.  They were all crispy then, not at all burned, just not as pretty green anymore.

After eating a few slightly not-crispy leaves, I let the rest cool then put them in a container to take to share with our Thanksgiving dinner.   Several of us really liked them.

When traveling with kale chips, you really do need to have a sturdy covered container, and a gentle hand.  It is very possible to "break" the chips.  If they are slightly less cooked, they hold up better.