Kale Chips

I have to admit something. It's embarrassing, really, but I can't deny it any longer. So here it goes...

I don't like kale.

Let me pause while the internet lets out a collective gasp. "How can it be?" you ask yourself. "Kale was one of the top food trends of 2013! How can you claim to know anything about about food and not like kale?"

Believe me when I say that I've given kale the old college try. I've ordered kale salads at several restaurants and even made one myself. I can understand how some people like the stuff, but I just don't enjoy it. It's a bit too fibrous and bitter for my taste. But I like Kraft macaroni and cheese, so maybe I'm just lowbrow.

Since everyone who's anyone talks about kale chips, though, I thought I should give kale one last chance before I swore off the curly greens forever.

Well I'm glad I did, because it turns out I like kale chips! Roasting mellows out the flavor and turns the fibrous chew into a crackling crunch. A sprinkle of salt enhances the flavor perfectly.

This former kale hater has been reformed.

Kale Chips
Inspired by everywhere on the internet (I mean, who hasn't written a recipe for kale chips?)
Serves: 4-6

One large bunch of kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Remove woody stems from the kale and tear leaves into bite-sized pieces. Spread kale on a large rimmed baking sheet (or two smaller ones) and drizzle with olive oil. Use your hands to massage the oil into the kale for a minute or so. Spread kale into a single layer and bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with salt to taste and serve.

Cheesy Hash Brown Potatoes

The husband and I were planning some meals over the holidays, and he had a grand plan, "Why don't we make some of the classics?" He suggested.

My mind is always moving on to the next thing, and I forget about those crazy-good things that I've already made. It's high time that I remind myself just how delicious a few of my favorites really are. So over the next few months, I'm going to sprinkle in a few of the classics with the new stuff. I'll take new pictures and bring these recipes up front and center where they belong.

I started with my Mom's Cheesy Hash Brown Potatoes.

This is ultimate comfort food. If you turn up your nose at cream of chicken soup from a can, stop now. But I'm telling you, these Cheesy Hash Brown Potatoes are the stuff dreams are made of. Savory, salty, delicious dreams.

My original post for this recipe was January 11, 2011—almost exactly three years ago. Back then I was bemoaning the frigid 16 degree temperatures we'd been experiencing.

Well, Past Self, this week you survived temperatures of -15...with a wind chill of -40. Positive 16 degrees? Heck, that's balmy.

Hope you enjoy this blast from the past as much as I did!

Mom's Cheesy Hash Brown Potatoes
Originally posted January 11, 2011

Serves: 8

1 can cream of chicken soup
16 ounces sour cream
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper
32 ounce bag of frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed (Mom uses the cubed hash browns.)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 stick butter, melted
2 cups Grape Nuts Flakes cereal*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk together soup, sour cream, onion powder, and garlic powder. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in potatoes and cheese. Pour mixture into the baking dish. 

In a separate bowl, stir together butter and Grape Nuts Flakes. Spread on top of the potatoes. 

Bake the cheesy potatoes for one hour. (If you check partway through the cook time and the topping is getting too brown, cover with foil and continue baking.)

*Make sure you get Grape Nuts FLAKES and not regular Grape Nuts. I don't know why Mom started using Grape Nuts Flakes, but they have a subtle malty sweetness that makes her cheesy potatoes ridiculously good.  

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Chicken and Goat Cheese

A while back I picked up a killer salad at Trader Joe's. I liked it so much, I thought I'd try to replicate it at home. And since it's the New Year—with the overindulgence of the holidays in the past—now seemed like the appropriate time.

Or maybe I'm just looking for an excuse to chase my dinner with an extra-large ice cream sundae. Decide for yourself.

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Goat Cheese and Salad
Serves: 2 (generously) as a main dish
Important Note: You will only need about a quarter of the roasted butternut squash for this salad. Meaning this is perfect leftover food! Make butternut squash on day 1 and serve it with rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. On day 2, make this delicious salad to use up both the chicken and the squash. Genius.

Roasted Butternut Squash:
1 medium butternut squash
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper

Dressing:
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil*
1/2 teaspoon grainy mustard
1/2 teaspoon pure maple syrup
Salt and pepper

Salad:
6 cups torn lettuce
2/3 cup chopped cooked chicken
1/4 cup chopped toasted pecans
1 cup roasted butternut squash
2 ounces crumbled goat cheese
1/4 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Pierce squash with a knife in a few places. Microwave on high for 5 minutes to soften the squash and make it easier to cut. When the squash is cool enough to handle, peel it, cut it in half, and scoop out the seeds. Then cut the squash into 1/2" cubes. Place squash on a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Bake squash in preheated oven for about 30 minutes, until tender and golden brown, stirring halfway through so it cooks evenly. Once the squash is cooked, set it aside until you're ready to serve the salad. It's delicious either warm or cold.

To make the dressing, combine vinegar, 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, mustard, and maple syrup in a small jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Evenly divide lettuce, chicken, pecans, roasted squash, goat cheese, and cranberries between two plates. Drizzle with dressing just before serving.

*If you prefer a less tangy vinaigrette, increase the amount of olive oil to 3 tablespoons.

Best of 2013

Did you have a happy Christmas? Since I'm sure you were wondering, ours was lovely. My little boy played with trains in his jammies, we went sledding, and we ate copious amounts of prime rib and chocolate cake. It was quite festive.

But now it's time to get ready for 2014. What better way to prepare for the future than to reflect on the past? Today I'm sharing my favorite Hot Dinner Happy Home recipes from the past 12 months. Get ready for some good eatin'...

Neiman Marcus Cookies: There's nothing like warm chocolate chip cookies straight out of the oven. And these soft cookies exploding with milk and semi-sweet chocolate chips are my absolute favorite.

Three Cheese Bacon Macaroni & Cheese: Ok. Let me put it like this: THREE CHEESE BACON MACARONI AND CHEESE!

Parmesan and Yogurt Crusted Chicken (a.k.a. OMG Chicken): So simple, but so good! "OMG Chicken" is really the most appropriate name for it. The chicken is flavorful and moist, and—here's the kicker—it comes together in about 5 minutes of prep. Angels are singing.

Slow Cooker Asian Beef & Broccoli: I love this one! It is so good! And so easy! The tender beef and crisp broccoli are coated with a sweet-and-savory sauce. I need to make this again soon.

Tropical Almond Granola with Chia Seeds: I've been on a serious granola kick, and this one might be my fav. Dried mangos and agave add a touch of sweetness to this healthy, almond-studded granola.

Maple-Glazed Brussels Sprouts with Bacon: Other brussels sprouts are blase once you've roasted them with bacon.

Double Peanut Butter Cup Brownies: The husband said it best, "This is how every brownie should be made."

Sloppy Joes with Crunchy Coleslaw: I served this to guests. With tater tots on the side. That's how much I like this one. Bonus points because it freezes and reheats well.  

Apple Cinnamon Bread: Studded with apples, scented with cinnamon, and crowned with buttery streusel. Need I say more?

Slow Cooker Chicken & Biscuits: This is a little bit of a cheater recipe—you use biscuits from the refrigerator section—but it's one I want to make over and over. Who cares if it's a cheater recipe; it's good.

Honorable Mention
Bacon Braised Green Beans: Apparently all my vegetables must be served with bacon.

Healthier Fried Rice: I'm always looking for ways to use up leftovers. With this recipe you can clean out your fridge of leftover rice and pork. Oh, and it's delicious. And healthy.

Low Fat Pumpkin Spice Muffins: All of America went bonkers for pumpkin spice this fall. I was no exception.

Crockpot Applesauce: I eat a lot of applesauce, and, in my humble opinion, this is the best way to make it.

Roasted Vegetable & Goat Cheese Panini: Three of my favorite things: roasted veggies, goat cheese, and carbs.

What was your favorite meal of 2013?

Creamy Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli

Last week I wasn't performing in the dinner department. I had a hunch that things were below average, but the husband tactfully confirmed my suspicions. "I don't know about you," he said, "but in the winter time, I tend to crave hearty dinners." Then he looked me in the eye, and I knew it was serious. "Last night we had salad for dinner."

So this week I'm back with pasta! Creamy pasta! With meat! (And a salad on the side, thankyouverymuch.)

Creamy Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli
Serves: 6-8
Adapted from Celebrations

12 ounces angel hair pasta
5 cups chopped broccoli florets (2 small heads)
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large chicken breasts, butterflied
Salt and pepper
1/2 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
Pinch ground nutmeg
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Stir in pasta and chopped broccoli. Cook according to package directions for al dente, about 4 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water, then drain and set aside pasta and broccoli.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium high. Season chicken generously with salt and pepper. Add to hot skillet and cook until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees, about 10 minutes, flipping halfway through. Set chicken aside and tent with foil to keep warm.

If the skillet you cooked the chicken in is dry, add an additional tablespoon of oil. Reduce heat to medium, add onion, and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute, until flour begins to toast.

Very gradually whisk in the chicken broth. (Doing this step slowly will help you avoid a lumpy sauce.) Stir in milk and nutmeg and allow the sauce to cook for 1-2 minutes to thicken. Turn off the heat and stir in yogurt and cheese. Chop cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces. Stir chicken, cooked pasta, and broccoli into sauce. If the sauce is too thick, add reserved pasta cooking water to help thin it out so it evenly coats the pasta. (Start by adding a little bit of the cooking water and then add more if needed.) Serve pasta topped with additional Parmesan cheese.

Cinnamon Crisps

Whenever we visit the husband's family in Seattle, he needs to eat at Taco Time at least once. Usually more like two or three times. I don't fully understand what excites him so much about Taco Time, but since I have plenty of inexplicable crazy, I don't ask questions about his devotion to the Crisp Beef Burrito.

A meal at Taco Time isn't complete without an order of Cinnamom Crustos for dessert. So without a trip to Seattle in our near future, the husband and I set out to make Crustos in our humble Milwaukee kitchen.

Flour tortillas are fried until flaky and crisp then dusted with cinnamon sugar. Well, in snow terms it's more of a cinnamon sugar blizzard than a dusting, but that's how we roll.

Cinnamon Crisps
Serves: 4 reasonably, 2 realistically

1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon (or to taste)
2 quarts vegetable or peanut oil
4 flour tortillas, each cut into 8 wedges

In a small bowl combine sugar and cinnamon until well blended. Set aside.

In a large Dutch oven with high sides, heat oil over medium-high until it reaches 350 degrees. Very carefully add half the tortillas and cook for 2 minutes, until the tortillas are golden and crisp, flipping with a slotted spoon halfway through cooking. (Flipping the tortillas ensures they cook evenly on both sides.) Place tortillas on a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle generously on both sides with cinnamon sugar. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Cinnamon crisps are ridiculously delicious served warm, but no one will complain if they're room temperature.

Easy Asian Beef

Christmas is in less than two weeks. Holy cow, I am so not ready. If I am going to get everything purchased/wrapped/baked/shipped on time, I need some crazy easy meals. That means it's time for Easy Asian Beef.

This simple but delicious dinner comes together in twenty minutes. Seriously. And it reheats really well if you happen to have any leftovers, which is unlikely. I was counting on Easy Asian Beef for lunch the next day when I made this recently...no such luck. Every last morsel was devoured at dinner, and we all sat looking longingly at the empty pan. Maybe the moral of the story is to double the recipe.

This is a simple recipe, so it helps to use ingredients that really pack a punch. Since I don't always keep fresh ginger on hand, I often substitute powdered or candied ginger in recipes that call for fresh. In this case, though, I think it's worth a trip to the store for fresh ginger. It really adds pizzazz. If you have leftover fresh ginger, you can store it in the freezer so you're ready next time it's called for. The dark brown sugar is a bit richer and more complex than typical light brown sugar. And sesame oil adds a nutty depth to the dish that makes it complete.

Now you know one of my favorite easy meals. What do you make to save time? These presents aren't going to wrap themselves!

Easy Asian Beef
Serves 4
Adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Pinch crushed red pepper
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Hot cooked rice for serving*

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add ground beef and cook, breaking up the beef into bite-sized pieces with a spatula, until beef is browned and cook through, about 7 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Stir in dark brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and crushed red pepper. Allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes until the sauce is thickened and all the beef is evenly coated. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve over rice.

*You could totally serve Easy Asian Beef in lettuce cups instead of rice. That would make a lovely appetizer, too.