So, kale chips are one of those ridiculously healthy, nutty crunchy, snack-food-for-the-quinoa-and-bulgar-set recipes that I was pretty sure I wouldn’t like. Truth be told, I’m not really much into bitter greens, but these seemed so easy and healthy that I had to give them a try.

And. Um. Ok, maybe I just do not belong in the quinoa and bulgar set. In fact, I think this pretty much proves that theory. I try to be as healthy as the next girl, but am I really going to replace my beloved pretzels and baked Doritos for these? Unlikely.

This is probably a good time to mention that a few months ago, I attempted a *very* expensive three-day juice diet, and do you know how long I lasted on it? Less than eight hours. Do you know how much weight I lost? Not a single ounce. Sigh.

Part of me debated whether or not to post this recipe, but in the end, I thought it was an interesting idea that others could probably enjoy more than me. Each “chip” basically tasted like olive oil and garlic, which was actually pretty good. So if you’re curious about kale chips too, I think you should try this recipe and decide for yourself!

Last but not least, the winner of the Stonyfield Farm Oikos giveaway is comment #24, Rachel!  I’ll be emailing for your address this weekend!

Kale Chips Recipe

INGREDIENTS

1 bunch kale
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp fleur de sel
1 tsp garlic powder

DIRECTIONS

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F. Line a nonstick cookie sheet with tin foil.

Remove the kale stems and tear the leaves into pieces. Wash and dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder and salt, rubbing the leaves to coat evenly. Place the kale in an even layer on the pan and bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, about 15 minutes. Serve.

A long time ago, I read Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, where he said there were three things that made all the difference between restaurant kitchens and home kitchens. Those things, if you can’t guess, are fresh herbs, squeeze bottles, and pastry rings.

Those three items, at least to me, were a bit of a revelation. Fortunately, I live fairly close to a kitchen supply store, so within a few weeks, I’d picked up squeeze bottles and pastry rings. The squeeze bottles led to lovely dishes like this and this, and fresh herbs had always been a staple of my kitchen. But those pastry rings — for some reason, I remained a little terrified of them.

I mean, I used them for desserts fairly regularly. But here, where I wanted to take a simple summer salad and make it into something special-looking, I had a feeling it was time to get over my fears.

And wow, they sure did. Anthony Bourdain knows his stuff! This was so pretty and elegant, I only wished we had company to serve it to! So if you’re looking for something to add a little ‘wow’ factor to an everyday dinner (and a really healthy one, at that!), all you need is this little restaurant trick. Get them on Amazon here, or at your local cooking supply store!

strawberry tomato salad recipe

INGREDIENTS

1 cup cherry tomatoes, diced into very small cubes (about 1/4″ per side)
1 cup small strawberries, trimmed and diced into very small strips (about 1/4″ per side)
1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp aged balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 ounce goat cheese, crumbled

DIRECTIONS

In small mixing bowl, toss together tomatoes, strawberries, oil, vinegar, and salt. Let marinate at room temperature 10 minutes.

To serve, place the mixture into a 3″ diameter pastry ring on individual plates, pressed to pack lightly. Remove the rings delicately, top each salad with goat cheese, and serve.

Serves four.

It is not quite eggplant season yet in NYC, but I am jumping the gun this year.  After a long, hard winter filled with snowstorms up and down the east coast, I am buying expensive, unseasonal eggplants and tomatoes.  Want to know why?  Because in my mind, winter cannot last much longer.  It just can’t.

I swear, if it does not get warm for good any day now, I will post ice cream recipes in protest until someone up there flips on the ‘summer’ switch.

But these lovely eggplant stacks are probably better for that in-between season than they are for the height of summer, when dinner can be nothing more than fresh berries, bread and cheese.  These are for dinner on a night that’s still a bit chilly, like tonight.  They have a hint of delicious summer flavor, but the warm, hearty preparation that we all get used to during the winter.  Needless to say, I licked the plate clean.

Don’t forget to enter the Color of Style giveaway this week!

Truffled Eggplant Stacks Recipe

INGREDIENTS
1 large eggplant, sliced into 3/4″ rounds
4 plum tomatoes, diced
1 pound button mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
1 shallot, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp truffle oil
1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated (plus extra for serving)
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Brush eggplant rounds on both sides with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and place the eggplant slices on it, evenly spaced. Bake approximately 30 minutes, or until eggplant is tender.

Meanwhile, in a large saute pan on medium heat, saute the mushrooms, garlic and shallot in 1/3 cup of water and 1 tbsp olive oil. Add salt and pepper as desired. When the mushrooms have released their juices, add the tomatoes and cook down for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the parmesan cheese and set the mixture on low heat, stirring occasionally, until the eggplant rounds are done.

Transfer the eggplant to plates and top with the mushroom-tomato mixture. Sprinkle additional parmesan over the stacks, and drizzle the truffle oil over everything. Serve warm.

Serves 6

It doesn’t get much healthier or more natural than these.  If you need an afternoon snack or a quick breakfast on the go, these are the perfect recipe.  They’re super easy and take hardly any prep time — just slice, bake, and munch away.  It takes a few hours on low heat to get all the moisture out of the apples, but this is still a low maintenance recipe.  You can put them in the oven as you’re about to start a DVD, and by the time the movie’s over, your snack is done.

I love apple chips, but this recipe could work for a lot of different fruits — pears, banana, or mangoes would all be great candidates.  I can’t wait to experiment more with this technique — yum.

Homemade Apple Chip Recipe

INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 large apple

DIRECTIONS

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees, and line a baking sheet with Silipat or parchment paper. Core the apples and then slice them with a mandoline if you have one, or otherwise as thinly as you can with a kitchen knife. Lay them in a single layer on the baking sheet, and sprinkle with 1 tbsp sugar, and the nutmeg and cloves. Bake for one hour, and then flip the apple slices on the baking sheet. Sprinkle the additional tbsp of sugar on the flipped slices, and bake for an additional 30 minutes. Allow to cool and serve.

Each apple makes about 1 small bowl of chips.

There are nights when I could happily eat crackers and dip for dinner.  In fact, I am ridiculously partial to a certain eggplant recipe that I haven’t posted to this website because I’ve never managed to take a good photograph of it.  This, on the other hand, I think I did fairly well with.

And I know it’s a little 80′s retro, but I loved these as little hors d’oeuvres at the beginning of a party.  Easy to make for a crowd, and hearty enough to take the edge off without spoiling anyone’s appetites.  They’re easy, can be made in advance and left out at room temperature, and ridiculously good.  Try eating just one — good luck.

Also, the winner of the Max Brenner book is Natalie (who, incidentally, chose “oreo truffles” as her favorite chocolate creation — those sound awesome)!  I’ll be emailing later today for your address.  For everyone who didn’t win, you can buy the book here!

Roasted Garlic and White Bean Dip Recipe

INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp olive oil
1 15-ounce can cannellini beans
4 large cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped chives

DIRECTIONS

Roast the garlic at 400 degrees for approximately 30 minutes.

Put roasted garlic, oil, beans, and lemon juice into a food processor. Puree until smooth, then add the chives and pulse 4-5 times. Serve warm or cold with bread, or pipe onto crackers. Garnish with additional chopped chives.

The first night I made this, I meant to eat something else for dinner.  Or at least, something in addition to this.  But after that first, delicious eggplant-tomato-onion-garlicy bite, I was smitten.  So smitten, in fact, that I spent the next hour sopping up every last bit of this recipe.  (Yes, all by myself.  Do you have a problem with that?)

Caponata is great on its own, but this takes it to a whole new level.  I love eggplant, but it’s hard to use in recipes without losing any healthiness for the dish — it soaks up oil faster than you can add it to the pan, so it’s easy to overdo.  My solution is to start the caponata with the eggplant cooking in water with garlic and onions, and add the oil only after the eggplant has cooked — enough so it cooks into the caponata (and will blend in even better if you let it sit for a day or two), without making this fresh, healthy dinner into something to feel guilty about.

Eggplants are in season here now, so they should be readily available.  This recipe is, seriously, shockingly good — and I bet you can resist it about as well as I could.  Or, well, couldn’t.

Eggplant Caponata Recipe

INGREDIENTS
1 large onion, diced
2 medium eggplants, diced
4 large cloves of garlic
Water, as much as needed
4 plum tomatoes, diced
2 tbsp virgin olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt
Ground pepper
1 baguette, sliced and toasted

DIRECTIONS
In a large saute pan, over medium heat, add the onions, garlic, eggplant and 1 cup of water on high heat, along with plenty of salt and pepper. Cook until the eggplant has softened, adding more water when necessary so the mixture doesn’t dry out. When the eggplant has absorbed enough water to be soft and well-cooked, add the tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, along with additional salt and pepper if necessary.

Lower the heat and simmer the mixture for 10 more minutes, or until the tomatoes have broken down. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature, and then serve with the toasted baguette slices.

Serves 4.

Let me tell you, I had a happy husband when these came out of the oven.

And what’s even better?  They’re actually good for him.  Usually, when Chad orders chicken fingers at a restaurant, all I can think about is that giant vat of oil in the back that’s frying them up.  Meanwhile, he thinks he’s making a healthy choice — sigh.

So one of the things I put on my Labor Day weekend recipe list was a homemade chicken finger recipe, and I will say, crusted with panko and dusted with a little garlic powder, they are a major step up from those greasy, deep fried slabs of dried out meat you’ll order at restaurants (you *know* they don’t save the good parts of the chicken for the fried dishes).

If you have picky kids and are concerned about them developing unhealthy food habits, these are easy to make and completely delicious.  The panko mimics the crispiness that usually comes from frying, so these turn out crunchy out the outside, hearty on the inside, and totally delicious.  One trick for getting extra crispiness when you’re baking these  instead of frying: bake them on a wire rack so the air can circulate above and below the chicken fingers — that way you won’t have mushy spots where they sat on the baking sheet.  Serve them with this homemade honey mustard, or your favorite barbeque sauce!

Oven-Baked Chicken Fingers with Honey Mustard Recipe

INGREDIENTS

For the Chicken Fingers:
1/2 pound chicken cutlets, pounded thin and cut into strips
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup panko
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt

For the Honey Mustard:
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp mustard
2 tbsp honey

DIRECTIONS

For the Chicken Fingers:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Place the beaten egg on one plate for breading, and the panko on another plate. For each chicken strip, dip it first in the egg, and then in the panko, and place it on a wire rack over a baking sheet (like what you would use to cool cookies). If you don’t have a rack, just place the chicken directly on a baking sheet, but you will need to turn them halfway through baking. Sprinkle the garlic powder and salt across the chicken fingers.

Bake the chicken fingers for about 10 minutes, and then increase the heat to 450 degrees and bake for another 10 minutes. Serve warm, with honey mustard.

For the Honey Mustard:
Whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard and honey, and serve immediately or chill until ready to use.

Serves 2.

Ah, August.

It didn’t seem this year, like you’d ever come.  The weather, as I’ve complained here so regularly, was April rain for the entire month of June, and I missed July on my honeymoon.

But August I’ve seen.  August has come in full force this year.

For all of you non-New Yorkers, August in Manhattan is sort of a phenomenon.  Everyone you know is out of town from Friday to Sunday, so good luck making plans or trying to host a dinner party.  You’ll go on a normal errand that you plan your weekend around, and you’ll find out that the store you were hoping to visit is, doh, shut down until Labor Day.  The sidewalks are so empty that you can actually walk through most neighborhoods without having to elbow your way past oncoming pedestrians, but you wouldn’t want to walk anywhere, because the city is so full of rank, muggy heat that you really can’t leave your apartment.

But, most important of all (arguably), the farmer’s market is full of cucumbers, bell peppers, and gorgeous, fresh husks of corn.   Can you guess where I’m going with this?

After picking up our CSA box and getting a grocery delivery early in the weekend, I actually conceived this salad without realizing that all the ingredients were sitting in my refrigerator, waiting to be assembled.  I breaded the scallops in panko and seared them for extra crispiness, and Chad, who is usually not the hugest scallop fan, actually went back for seconds on this.  If I’m totally honest with myself, I think he even liked it more than the peanut butter cake.  Men and their lack of sweet tooths, I will never understand it.

But I would happily serve this salad at a dinner party, once everyone comes back into town in September.  Hopefully the corn will still be around, because my future guests will really be missing out if I had to use frozen corn.  If you have to be stuck in New York City in August, at least we get a few perks.

Seared Scallop Salad Recipe

INGREDIENTS
3 cobs of corn, boiled and kernels cut off the cobs
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
8 large sea scallops, patted dry
1/2 cup panko
2 addition tbsp olive oil
Salt
Pepper

DIRECTIONS

Mix the cut corn kernels, cucumber, bell pepper, 3 tbsp olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and set aside. Divide the salad into four bowls for serving.

Dip the scallops in panko until lightly crusted.

Heat the additional 2 tbsp of olive oil (you don’t need to use extra virgin for this) in a large skillet over high heat. Sear the scallops for about 2-3 minutes on each side, or until they are cooked through. Place two scallops over the salad in each bowl, and serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves four.

Spring garlic, it seems, is here one minute and gone the next.  I had several heads of it in my CSA basket last week, and by the time I had a moment to post this recipe, it may already be gone.  But if you can get your hands on some and don’t know what to do with it, please try this recipe — it’s fresh, healthy and absolutely delicious.

I was ordering dinner recently from a small italian restaurant near me, and when I looked at the menu to choose what I wanted, I remembered all their bruschetta options.  At a few dollars a slice, you could try everything from sausage to artichoke bruchetta, most of which came slathered with delicious, melted cheese.

But it made me think more broadly about what we’d consider “bruschetta,” and since I pretty much love anything that involves bread and tomatoes, it was on my radar when I picked up our CSA basket.  When I saw these beautiful cloves of young garlic, everything clicked all at once.  Spring garlic is much more mild than the garlic you find in the grocery store, almost a mix between garlic and an onion, with a flavor all its own.  It’s delicious and subtle enough that you want to use it generously, and let its flavor shine.

So make this before it’s too late!  But even if your spring garlic season has passed, don’t worry — there will be plenty of delicious, fleeting summer recipes in the next few months.  Enjoy them while you can!

Spring Garlic Bruschetta

INGREDIENTS
1 demi baguette, cut into 12 1/2″ slices
3 plum tomatos or tomatoes on the vine, seeds scraped out (don’t worry if some remain)
4 spring garlic cloves, outer layers peeled away if necessary
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt
Pepper

DIRECTIONS
Roast the spring garlic with olive oil, salt and pepper at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes. Allow to cook, and chop roughly. Dice the tomatoes into similarly-sized pieces, and mix with the garlic and olive oil. Add salt and pepper if necessary. Spoon the mixture onto the slices of baguette, and cook at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes, or until the bread has browned on the edges. Serve warm.

My last post, Nutella ice cream, was the most popular recipe I’ve ever put up on this site.

So how do you follow that up? One approach would be to put up a throwaway recipe that I know couldn’t possibly compete. I’d just figure that everyone’s going to see that delcious bowl of ice cream in the “Recent Posts” list and click right over, no matter how great the new recipe is.

But I am not the giving-up type. So this is another recipe that is, quite frankly, a home run. Light, fluffy and just a little bit sweet, but decadent and rich at the same time. In my kitchen, these were gone about as fast as the nutella ice cream — they were that good.

I first called these my gourmet cheese puffs, but they deserve a more dignified name — the idea of whipped brie was taken from the loftiest of culinary sources: of course, Thomas Keller. Although the honey and the puff pastry are mine — he serves whipped brie on its own, as part of a cheese course. I’m sure that way is delicious too, but I loved my sweet little cheese bites just as much.

Whipped Brie Puffs

INGREDIENTS
1 sheet puff pastry, rolled out and cut into 16 squares
8 ounces brie cheese (I used Ile de France, because they sent it to me, and it worked great!)
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp honey

DIRECTIONS
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. When the oven is heated, bake the puff pastry squares in mini muffin tins. Prick the bottoms with a fork before putting them in the oven. Bake until puffed and golden, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, whip together the cheese, heavy cream, and one tablespoon of honey until the texture is smooth and fluffy, but still thick (about 7 minutes). Don’t use a whisk, use a regular beater.

Transfer the brie mixture to a pastry bag with a star tip. Pipe the brie mixture onto the puff pastry cups and drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of honey. Serve at room temperature.

Makes 16 hors d’oeuvres.