Kale Chips: A Surprising Hit with Preschoolers and Recipe

this piece is running at kveller.com today. You can try it with other greens too!

Last week, my sweet boy turned 5 and we celebrated by hosting his preschool class at our farm for a treasure hunt, pony rides with a neighbor, and lunch. He originally requested a party at one of those indoor bouncy centers, so I was very happy that we were able to coax, sell, and redirect him toward a homespun farm party.

The day before the party, my husband brought in a large bag of tender baby kale from the farm–the first of the spring new growth. When I asked my son what we should serve as a snack for the party, he completely surprised me by suggesting kale chips. I laughed and wondered how they would go over with his class that is used to much more standard preschool fare.

We served lunch in our sukkah which is still standing on the edge of one of our fields, now dressed up with balloons and crepe paper. The children were hungry when they sat down and the first thing I put out was the kale chips. Only one child made a face and said, “I don’t like those, they are green.” But all the other children reached in to try them. And they were a huge hit! The children grabbed seconds and thirds and moments later the bowl was empty.

Maybe you want to try this for your next preschool or grown-up gathering. I promise you, if you have never tried them you will be amazed by how good they are. Plus, they are kosher for Passover! Here is how to make them:

1. Gather one large bunch of young tender kale from your garden, farmers market, or grocery store. Note, they shrink a lot in this recipe, so start with more than you think you need.

2. Wash well and drain or dry leaves.

3. Put kale in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil and salt to taste, stirring to get an even coating of salt and oil on the leaves.

4. Lay kale in a single layer on baking sheets and bake for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Flip kale and continue cooking for another 3-5 minutes. Watch them closely; they should crisp up nicely. The edges will brown a bit but should not turn black.

5. That’s it, cool and serve.

 

This post originally appeared on kveller.com.

Kveller.com offers a Jewish twist on parenting, everything a Jewish family could need for raising Jewish children–including crafts, recipes, activities, Hebrew and Jewish names for babies…and advice from Mayim Bialik.

Life without a Stove and a Recipe

I have mentioned before that sometimes it seems like I spend a lot of life stumbling on common knowledge and cliches for myself. The past 10 days I have been learning the old “necessity is the mother of invention”.

Our electric oven and stove failed us about 10 days ago and we still have a few more days to wait before a new one will be delivered.  In the meantime, we have been cooking with just the toaster oven, an electric frying pan and a very old crock pot. The electric frying pan came from my neighbor a few days into this stove free period when the children were starting to beg for non-toaster items like eggs.   We have always been microwave free here too, mostly because they give me the creeps and I know if there was one in the house it would be used.

It’s been sort of a fun challenge and has taught me how many times a day I glance at the stove clock (about 30), and how we rely on the easy convenience of the stove top all the time. I have also learned that challah comes out fine in the toaster oven as long as you make tiny loaves and several batches.  And guess what, children like the tiny loaves better.  And I learned that you can fit in a lovely visit with friends in the time it takes to cook a box of spaghetti on their stove.

The slow cooker has been a bit of a challenge and I have had a few failures (like adding pasta to soup –which turned to a doughy mess).  But tonight I came up with a great soup recipe that I think is worth sharing and I would make it even when my normal cooking options are returned.

So here goes, my first attempt to share a recipe via my blog.  Well, it is not an official recipe which tells you how much of this or that to add, more of a guide piece in case you want to try it. Here goes:

Parve Mock Stuffed Cabbage Soup

In the slow cooker:

beans (I used a mixture of soup beans but any pre-soaked will be fine)
tomato sauce
sliced cabbage (fresh from our farm)
add water until it looks like soup, add more later if you need it
salt, tumeric, parsley, paprika (as much as you like)

In a saute pan:
onions, garlic and olive oil, sauteed the normal way and then added to the crock pot. This makes a big difference for flavor (I know because I tasted it pre-saute addition and it was bland.)

Finally, I added some cider vinegar and a little honey for the sweet and sour stuffed cabbage like taste.  I also added some leftover quinoa which reminded me of the rice in stuffed cabbage. Any grain would be fine for that effect.

Maybe you will give it a try. If so, let me know how it worked out!