Broccoli Fra Diablo

I was supposed to have another dinner salad tonight but after meals and meals of salads, I didn't think I could stomach another. I was craving tomatoes (specifically, PIZZA), and remembered people on the Dr. Fuhrman forums recommending this dish. Though not consisting of pizza-like flavors, I thought this might do the trick for that tomato craving.

It was incredibly easy to make, coming together in about 20 minutes or less. I used fresh broccoli. The dish itself came out rather soupy, even though I added more broccoli than required. Perhaps my taste buds haven't been retrained yet, but I found it just a tad on the bland side. It tastes nothing like pizza (not that it ever claimed it did, but I wanted to make that disclaimer!) but was nice comfort food.

Recommended for easy, quick, and healthy. Recipe can be found
here.

Not Your SAD Potato Chips

As an alternative to potato chips, I tried making different vegetable chips in the dehydrator.

First up: Zucchini Chips

I sliced up zucchini using a mandoline and put them in plain into the dehydrator. Incredibly easy! It took all of 10 minutes from start to finish for 4 zucchinis and 6 trays worth (about 6 small snack bags). They don't need any flavoring because when dried, they have a naturally salty taste.

I put these in before going to sleep and let the dehydrator run overnight. By morning, they were dried, crispy, and yummy! It's no potato chip but it's a nice alternative. At least I can eat them guilt-free. :)

Next up: Kale Chips

I've made kale chips before using the oven, but this one from BeStrixed using a curry-flavored sauce intrigued me. It was a little more involved since the dressing had to be made (10 minutes), plus the kale had to be prepped (washed, de-stemed, chopped) (10 minutes), and then dressed (5 minutes). 10 + 10 + 5 = 25 minutes of prep time.

My dressing came out fairly thick and I didn't have a large enough container to mix the entire 12 ounces of kale with it, so I ended up mixing the dressing with my hands in batches of kale, which is probably why it took longer.

These were messier in the dehydrator and I did these overnight again (they were ready by morning). They were delicious! Better than a greasy, overly-salted potato chip! And a great way to get in some extra greens...

Notes: I couldn't find dino kale at the market that day and ended up using regular curly kale... which seemed to make the dressing a bit harder to cover - all those curls! I also found the resulting "chip" quite delicate and since dino kale leaves are typically thicker, they probably would hold up better.

I also ended up with a bit more dressing than kale when I was finished, so I bought some collards to try instead of the kale since the leaves tend to be thicker. Still delicious!