Oven Roasted Kale Chips

I've been on a vegetable roasting kick for the past year.  Aside from these delicious roasted brussels sprouts, my other staple is roasted kale.  These crisp up very nicely and amazingly do take on the satisfying crunch of real chips.  Don't be overly ambitious like me in piling kale leaves onto your cookie sheet - it's important to bake these in 1-2 layers so that they cook evenly and all take on the same texture.

If you don't plan to serve this immediately, I'd suggest letting them cool in a single layer on the cookie sheet before you place them in a container.  Otherwise, any residual heat will cause them to soften inside the container and lose their crunchy texture.  Good luck with that though, we snacked through half our batch before it even made it onto the dinner table. :)

Oven Roasted Kale Chips
Serves 2

1 bunch of curly green kale (another variety of kale should work too)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika, optional

1. Preheat oven to 300F.
2. Remove the stems and cut off the tough center ribs of each kale stalk.  Cut leaves into bite-size pieces, roughly 2" in diameter.  
3. Wash kale thoroughly and spin dry in a salad spinner.  Give it a few extra spins since it's crucial to get them as dry as possible or else the water droplets will steam your kale in the oven.   
4. In a bowl, toss leaves with olive oil, salt, and paprika.  Spread leaves in a single layer onto a cookie sheet.  Use an additional cookie sheet if necessary.
5. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until crispy.  Ten minutes into baking, check on the kale and use tongs to stir or gently turn the leaves over for even baking.  When kale is crispy, remove from the oven and serve immediately or leave the chips on the cookie sheet to cool. 

Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Roasted brussels sprouts have become quite a popular item on many menus lately.  Seeing as how we really enjoy roasting other vegetables, we decided to give this a try this week.  The last time I had brussels sprouts was when I was a kid.  They didn't leave much of an impression on me, though books and movies certainly left a negative impression of them in my memory. After this trial, I can say for sure that I enjoy brussels sprouts.  At least when they are roasted.  Even more so when individual leaflets are roasted to a nice crunchy brown - brussels sprout chips!  We made these two days in a row.  The second time we actually peeled off the leaflets of each brussels sprout so that we could have a whole tray full of these delicious veggie chips.  The brussels sprouts taste great reheated, but the chips do lose their crispiness within a couple hours. 

Roasted Brussels Sprouts
serves 2

1/2 lb brussels sprouts
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp smoked paprika (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400F.  This amount of brussels sprouts should also fit well in the toaster oven.
2. Cut off the browned ends of each brussels sprout.  Slice in half lengthwise.  Save any leaves that fall off, or peel off more leaves if desired.
3. Place cut brussels sprouts and leaves, olive oil, salt, pepper and smoked paprika in a medium bowl.  Toss until the brussels sprouts are well coated.
4. Spread brussels sprouts in a single layer on a baking pan.  Roast in the oven for about 40 minutes, stirring the contents halfway through to ensure more even cooking.  Brussels sprouts are done when individual leaves are browned and crispy and intact halves are softened and cooked through.

Roasted Asparagus

One of my favorite methods for cooking vegetables is oven-roasting.  It's quick, simple, easy to clean up, and requires minimal ingredients.  Vegetables tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper come out of the oven with intensified flavors and even a light nuttiness.  The asparagus turned out great here, though the grape tomatoes could have used some slow, lower-temperature roasting to really bring out their sweetness.   

Roasted Asparagus
Serves 4

1 bunch of asparagus (about 1 lb)
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.  Rinse the asparagus to clean.  Cut off the tough ends of the asparagus and discard.  (If you take a single asparagus and snap the end, typically it will snap off right where the tough/dry portion starts.  Use this snapped asparagus as your length guide to cut off the ends of the rest of the bunch.)
2. Place the asparagus in a single layer on a baking sheet or foil-covered baking pan.  Drizzle with the olive oil and roll the spears around to make sure they are evenly coated.  Rearrange the spears into a single layer and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Place pan in the oven and roast for about 10 minutes until tender enough to pierce with a fork but still slightly crisp. 

Oven roasted corn on the cob

This is an easy way to prepare corn on the cob if you don't want to fire up the grill.  Roasting the corn makes it easy to shuck and de-silk afterwards.  You can add whatever toppings you like.  In this case I added parmesan cheese, chili pepper, and fresh ground pepper.

Oven Roasted Corn on the Cob
Serves 4

4 ears of fresh corn with husks on
Salt, pepper, and other condiments

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Place corn directly on the oven rack and roast for 35-45 minutes or until corn is soft.  
2. Remove from oven and let cool until easy to handle by hand.  Peel down corn husks and use as a handle for eating.  Top corn with condiments of your choice.

Roasted vegetables

One of my favorite, simple ways to prepare veggies is oven-roasting them. Cut up cauliflower and broccoli (and any other veggies of choice) and toss them in some olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika. Roast in a single layer at 400F for 30-40 minutes. The high heat caramelizes the veggies and brings out this great nutty flavor!