Baked Brussels Sprout Leaves

On the Fourth of July, my best friend and her family came over for a barbecue.  They brought some amazing food (her husband is a trained chef) and I added some vegan fare to the menu.  I made a huge batch of grilled brussels sprouts and when I was done skewering the sprouts, I noticed how many of the leaves had fallen off in the skewering process...so I deep fried them!  I mean, why not.  My best friend's husband referred to them "nature's candy".

So tonight, I decided to make a much more reasonable baked version and they were just as delicious, crispy and wonderful.  I prepared the sprouts the same way (see the recipe here).  Then, I sprayed a baking sheet with olive oil spray and spread the leaves that were leftover after the skewering on the sheet.  I baked them at 300 for 15 minutes and they came out as delicious, if not better, and certainly less guilt inducing than the deep fried version.

These were so good I might just make them without the skewers!

Baby Kale Chips

Like regular kale chips weren't good enough, now we need baby kale chips!

Well, actually, they're pretty good so let's not let their immaturity get in the way of some deliciousness.

Here are the details:

5-6 oz baby kale leaves
2 tablespoons pistachio nut oil
1/2 teaspoon nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon flaxseeds
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Oil spray
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350

Toss the kale in the oil, add the rest of the seasonings and toss again.

Spray two cookie sheets with oil.  Spread the leaves evenly over the cookie sheets and bake for about 40 minutes.

Now, try not to eat them all yourself.  I dare you.

Peach Sorbet

This post was actually born from a fail!  I made this amazing peach juice a few weeks ago, and then followed a recipe for sorbet that included sugar.  The results were sickeningly sweet.  So, this time around, it's just as simple as possible.

We juiced 11 peaches, yielding about four cups of juice, and then we poured the juice into the ice cream maker and let it spin for about 25 minutes.  The result was so good.

Here's what it looked like in process:

And, deliciously done.

Yum.

PS:  Riv says, "It tastes like a peach."

Balsamic Summer Vegetable Kabobs

Serves 3*

Pre heat grill

3 carrots (I like multicolor carrots from our local organic farm) peeled and sliced on the diagonal 1/2 inch thick...note: you can zap these in the microwave if you chose for one minute or leave them as is for a more al dente bite

1/4 red onion chopped into 1 inch wedges

6 baby summer squash sliced in half

2 sprigs fresh rosemary de-stemmed and diced

4 cloves garlic mashed

2 tablespoons nut or olive oil...I like pistachio oil the best as it is so buttery tasting

2 tablespoons balsamic reduction (see below)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix all the prepared ingredients in a bowl, place on skewers and grill for about ten minutes

Kordi likes the squash best...especially on a quinoa burger with a mango smoothy chaser :)

Some thoughts on the balsamic reduction...

     I like to make my own balsamic reduction and I also like to buy it.  It's easy to make, just put a half cup or so of your favorite balsamic vinegar into a saucepan and cook it down over a high flame to about half it's original amount (stir constantly, it won't take that long).  You can add some sweetness by mixing in a little brown sugar, maple syrup, agave or, if you are quite a daring vegan, blackstrap molasses.  Conversely, I recommend Trader Joe's Balsamic glaze...that stuff is spectacular.

*We do things in threes around here.  Rivers (not vegan), Kordelia (a sometimes vegan) and me, Kristi (always vegan) make up our little family.  Feel free to adapt these recipes as necessary...it's nice to have you here :)