Sea Salt and Vinegar Kale Chips

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Lately the days seem to be just flying by. I think that happens when you have an impending move. I’m so excited to be trying out a different area of town, but moving is just so much work. You’d think I would have the hang of it by now with four moves in the past five years, but I definitely don’t.

So between that and all my summer travel lately, things have been a bit hectic. I’m actually in the air as I type this on my way home from Florida for a trip to see Ryan. We took the most fun daycation in St. Augustine and checked out a lot of cool places. I’m thinking a summer travel round-up needs to happen soon.

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But back to the food—I’ve found myself gnawing on sea salt and vinegar kettle chips a lot lately, which I think has just become my new travel-struggles vice (on Saturday I woke up at 6:00 a.m. for a 5:30 a.m. flight—nice—and today was a long delay that gets me home a smidge late, but it’s all worth it!).

So I figure, what better recipe to post than a little variation on my travel snack? Sea Salt & Vinegar Kale Chips are a great substitution for my new fatty, carbo-loaded addiction. They are just as crispy and flavorful as the real deal but lighter and definitely healthier made with good-for-you fats and baked up in your own oven.

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I’ve always been a big fan of kale chips — I can’t get over the way they crunch and then melt in your mouth — and this variation to my friend Melissa’s recipe (my personal go-to) is a perfect way to switch things up in the vegetable eating department.

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Sea Salt & Vinegar Kale Chips
Author: 
 
Ingredients
  • 1 bunch of curly kale
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons vinegar
  • Fine sea salt to taste
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place a wire roasting rack or even a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet (this allows moisture to drip down, keeping your chips crunchy).
  2. Wash and dry the kale completely (getting the kale dry is the trick to getting crisp chips, I like to roll/squeeze mine in a flour sack towel). Tear into bite size pieces and place in a gallon Ziploc bag.
  3. Add the olive oil, vinegar and sea salt and seal the bag tightly. Shake the bag until each leave is coated and ingredients are evenly distributed.
  4. Spread the kale into one even layer on the rack and bake for 15 minutes, turning half way through. Allow to cool, then dig in!

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What are your favorite travel snacks or stress eating vices? Let me know in the comments below, I love hearing from you!

 

Salted Caramel Drumsticks

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Things have been messy on this end, and I’m not just talked about that ice cream cone.

I about threw in the blogging towel this last week. After updating WordPress, being unable to post anything and losing all my plugins, I finally found the root of the problem and got it all fixed. Then right when I thought everything was fully functional, the site got hacked. Long story short, it took days to fix and some major help from the fantastic Melissa and now I’m back. And I plan to be back for a while. Blogging is my hobby, I do it only for the fun I have while doing it. Taking the photos, creating delicious eats and writing words that no one will edit down. So, when it got a little stressful I thought it wasn’t worth it. But hackers beware: I’m sticking around.

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But enough about me, back to these Salted Caramel Drumsticks.

I don’t know who decides on silly little holidays you see in Blogland and Instagram, but Ice Cream Month is one I can support. So, on this the last day of Ice Cream Month I’m making my contribution with this adult twist on a childhood classic.

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The idea came to me while eating my Talenti salted caramel gelato one day. In my head they were going to be so picture perfect. A crisp waffle cone filled with perfect frozen scoops of gelato, then dipped in silky smooth chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt. But, that’s not exactly how it worked out. I tried to dip the cones and when I pulled them back out of the chocolate it would slide right off. Then while shooting photos the ice cream began to drip down the cones messing up my entire vision of what was going to be the best photo shoot ever.

Y’all know how I feel about expectations, though, and when it comes down to it. I figured out a way to make these ice cream cones come together and they taste awesome. Seriously. You’re kitchen might get a little messy in the process, but it’s totally worth it.

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Print
Salted Caramel Drumsticks
Author: 
 
Ingredients
  • 1 sugar cone (I use Joy Gluten Free Sugar Cones)
  • 2 scoops salted caramel ice cream or gelato (I use Talenti)
  • ½ cup chocolate chips
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • coarse sea salt
Instructions
  1. In a microwave-safe deep, narrow container (like a Pyrex measuring cup) melt the chocolate chips in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Stir and continue warming in 15 second intervals until entirely melted.
  2. Place a couple of spoonfuls of the melted chocolate inside the cone. Rotate the cone to cover the entire inside wall with chocolate. Shake out any extra chocolate, leaving a dollop in the bottom. Place the cone in an upright position and freeze.
  3. After the chocolate has hardened, about 30 minutes, push one scoop of gelato into the cone and level the top. Add the second scoop right on top. Freeze for another 30 minutes.
  4. Gently spoon melted chocolate on top of the cone while rotating it around to cover all of the gelato. Add another small dab of chocolate on the very top and immediately sprinkle with sea salt.
  5. Freeze until hardened, then devour.

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Did anyone else celebrate Ice Cream Month? What has been your favorite melty summertime treat so far?