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Dandelion Chips w/ Sea Salt
I have a bit of an obsession with Dandelions, as you can read about here (Dandelion Sun-dried Tomato Bread Pudding.) On my quest to see just how many products I can actually make with these loyal, fierce and underestimated miracle plants, I tried Dandelion Chips.
They bake up so easy and I can't wait to try them with different seasonings: chipotle powder, curry or maybe powdered chives (Mmmm.)
As you might expect, Dandelion Chips are more delicate than the hardy and curly Kale, and the taste can be more bitter (a nice break from the too sweet and processed bagged chips.) I loved these with sea salt sprinkled all over. They melt in your mouth like dandelion air, and I think they'd make a perfect garnish on mashed potatoes, added to salads, or crushed and sprinkled over casseroles. 
Dandelion Chips:
1) Wash, dry and break dandelion greens into large pieces. Discard any thick ribs.
2) Drizzle a bit of Olive oil on the greens and toss with your hands to lightly coat all the leaves.
3) Place in a single layer onto a baking sheet. Bake at 350F for about 8-12 minutes. Keep an eye on them so not to burn.
4) Remove pan from the oven, sprinkle the leaves with seasonings (I used Sea Salt) and allow to cool. That's it - simple~ Let me know if you try Dandelion Chips and if you have ideas for other ways to use them. 
Have a dandy day :D
First, a confession: I didn't just wake up with this idea. I was eating Portobello Mushroom Fries in a restaurant (that was known for having the best) and when I mentioned to the server how amazing they tasted...he sold out the whole kitchen- "just slices of portobello fried, but the secret ingredient is Wondra". He just assumed it wouldn't matter to me. I guess there are advantages to not getting that tattoo I thought about (FOOD BLOGGA) on my fingers.
I knew I'd be stopping on the way home to buy a canister of Wondra and figuring this out. There wasn't much to do, really. I knew I didn't want to use egg washes, or more breading materials that would over power the umami taste of these giant Portobello Mushrooms.
So, I just brushed the mushrooms clean, sliced and trimmed them to consistent sizes and laid them out on a parchment lined pan.
Then, I sprinkled them with salt, and let them rest for a few minutes. The salt caused them to release some moisture, which was enough to hold on to the Wondra coating. 
One of the reasons these are so good is because the coating is light and crispy, not gummy or thick like bad fried chicken wings.
One of my favorite Anne Willan recipes is Salt & Pepper Shrimp where she uses just a dusting of cornstarch before flat-frying the shrimp. They end up crispy golden and the shrimp meat just pops through with spicy juice.
These are addictive (what fried food isn't, right?) And with all fried foods, the key is to get your oil hot enough to crisp the outside but still low enough to cook the inside. Too low and your food just gets drenched in fat. If it's too hot you burn the outside before the inside gets cooked. Part of the beauty of Portobello Mushroom Fries is that the mushroom is so good raw (unlike a potato), that even if you miss - you win anyway.
RECIPE: Portobello Mushroom Fries
1-2 Large Portobello Mushrooms - brush washed, sliced into even strips
1-2 cups Wondra
salt/pepper
Oil
1) Lay the sliced mushrooms on a parchment covered pan and sprinkle with salt to release moisture. Allow to sit for about 20 minutes.
2) Pour the Wondra into a flat bowl and roll each mushroom slice around in the flour.
3) In a deep saucepan, heat about 3-4 inches of oil to 350F and carefully drop a few mushroom slices at a time into the hot oil. Fry for a minute or two, just til golden.
4) Remove with a slotted spider or tongs and lay into a paper or towel covered basket to drain. Season with pepper and serve asap. *These go great with a little Aioli dip*
Here's what happens when I go to the Farmer's Market and my eyes are bigger than my week.
Sweet Potato Chips w/ Cinnamon and Fleur de Sel
This past week, I fell in love with a few Sweet Potatoes (don't judge) and I wanted to take them all home. Then after making soup, casseroles, pies and muffins - I was still staring at several beautiful tubers, but not a lot of time left to use them.
With a teenage son, and a husband who works late hours I'm always looking for snack items that have at least a tiny bit of healthy in there somewhere. Plenty of people have done Sweet Potato fries and chips, but often they are fried (not against it, but time consuming.) I've done baked sticks and baked chips, but right now my ovens are constantly taken up with holiday baking. So...I just quickly slammed out a few thin slices on the mandoline, tossed them in light olive oil, microwaved them on a large plate and half way through sprinkled them with a salty-cinnamon blend. Were they good? I have no more potatoes. They were all eaten in one sitting by several teens who had no idea they were getting their daily requirements of iron, fiber and potassium while snacking and yaking.
RECIPE: Sweet Potato Microwaved Chips w/ Cinnamon and Fleur de Sel
Sweet Potatoes (peeled and sliced thin- a mandoline works best)
2Tbls Olive oil
2 Tbls Cinnamon
1 Tbls. Fleur de Sel (or another coarse salt)
1) In a small bowl, whisk together the cinnamon and salt and hold to the side.
2) In another bowl, toss the Sweet Potato slices in the Olive Oil.
3) On a microwavable platter, lay the slices out without touching or overlapping
4) Microwave the chips, turning them over half way through. Depending on your microwave - this should take 3-4 minutes on each side.
5) While they are still warm, sprinkle the cinnamon salt combo liberally over the chips. They will crisp while cooling. Remove and store in a paper bag, or on parchment until serving.
* Sprinkle more cinnamon salt to taste.
**Optional: Also fabulous with a mixture of equal parts: Chipotle Chile Powder, Sugar, Salt**
No matter how healthy I try to be, when I hear a bag of chips being opened my head spins around. Old habits die hard and....well...gosh, salty sweet chips taste good. So, here's what we can do:
Quick and Healthy Fruit Chips
I have found that it's a lot easier to convince myself, children and friends to eat better IF I have something positive to offer, instead of a list of what we CAN'T eat. These chips take almost no effort, in fact I purposely show them (in the picture below) without a mandoline or anything fancier than a regular potato peeler. The biggest secret to great tasting fruit chips is having amazing product (read that as: farmer's market produce, fresh out of the ground/off the tree/picked from the bush deliciousness.)
Even in the heat of summer, you can easily slide a tray of these goodies into the oven because it doesn't need to get any higher than 200-220F.
It's as easy as:
Slice good, firm fruit into the thinnest slices possible (mandoline is great, but a potato peeler works too, or just carefully with a sharp knife).
Some fruit (ie, apples and bananas) do well with a little sprinkle of lemon juice to keep their color, but it's not required.
Place on a Silpat topped baking sheet (makes for easiest fruit chip removal).
Place for one hour in a preheated 200F oven
Remove and let fruit cool. If slices are sticky, try for a few more minutes, but don't let over-brown. (Bananas can take twice as long.)
When cooled, fruit chips will crisp up.
Optional extras to sprinkle - according to personal likes, allergies and age of chip-consumer:
sea salt
barbecue powder
Garam Masala
Wanna get fancier? Crumble the dried chips into a powder to sprinkle over seared scallops, ice cream, or fold into macaron batter.
Now, don't you feel chipper?
Dandelion Chips w/ Sea Salt
I have a bit of an obsession with Dandelions, as you can read about here (Dandelion Sun-dried Tomato Bread Pudding.) On my quest to see just how many products I can actually make with these loyal, fierce and underestimated miracle plants, I tried Dandelion Chips.
As you might expect, Dandelion Chips are more delicate than the hardy and curly Kale, and the taste can be more bitter (a nice break from the too sweet and processed bagged chips.) I loved these with sea salt sprinkled all over. They melt in your mouth like dandelion air, and I think they'd make a perfect garnish on mashed potatoes, added to salads, or crushed and sprinkled over casseroles. 
Dandelion Chips:
Have a dandy day :D
