Healthy chips - kale or turnip greens

We are always looking for a healthy snack. These are the perfect thing for my salt craving, but are still nutritious. The first time I made them I used Turnip Greens because I could not find Kale at the store. The second time I used both Kale and Turnip Greens. If you are using the Turnip Greens you need to make sure you cut out the stem and rib from the Green.

Ingredients:
1 bunch Kale or Turnip greens
2 T Olive oil
2 t Salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Line baking sheet with parchment paper
3. Cut the leaves away from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces
4. Wash Leaves and thoroughly dry
5. Drizzle leaves with olive oil and sprinkle with salt
6. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 8 to 15 minutes

Cauliflower Pizza

I love pizza and I love this new cauliflower crust pizza. The texture of the crust is not perfect, but the flavor is awesome. It is best if you use the "dough" to make personal size pizzas, and then depending on the amount of sauce and toppings, you may still need to use a fork to eat it, but you will enjoy all the flavors.

You will need to make sure you pre-cook any toppings you want to put on the pizza (i.e. onions, green peppers, sausage since you add the at the very end to just melt the cheese)

ingredients:
1 cup cooked, riced cauliflower
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp garlic salt
olive oil (optional)
pizza sauce, shredded cheese and your choice of toppings*

directions:
To "Rice" the Cauliflower:
Take 1 large head of fresh cauliflower, remove stems and leaves, and chop the florets into chunks. Add to food processor and pulse until it looks like grain. Place the riced cauliflower into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 8 minutes. Do not add water, there is enough natural moisture in the cauliflower.

One large head should produce approximately 3 cups of riced cauliflower. The remainder can be used to make additional pizza crusts immediately, or can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.

To Make the Pizza Crust:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. The crust does tend to stick. I recommend using aluminum foil with a non-stick cooking spray or parchment paper on a cooking sheet.

In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup cauliflower, egg and mozzarella. Add oregano, crushed garlic and garlic salt, stir. Transfer to the cookie sheet, and using your hands, pat out into two 6" round pizzas. Brush olive oil over top of mixture to help with browning.

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, broil for 5 minutes. Flip crusts over and broil another 5 minutes on other side. (if using parchment paper, bake at 420 degrees for 20 minutes, and flip over and cook for another 10 - do not broil with parchment paper)

Remove from oven. To the crust, add sauce, toppings and cheese. Place under a broiler at high heat just until cheese is melted (approximately 3-4 minutes).

Enjoy and remember to keep cauliflower on the weekly shopping list. I have another recipe for cauliflower rice that I hope to try next week!

Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

It's a new year, which means we are trying to be more healthy in our cooking. My goal this year is to find recipes that we can add into to our normal cooking routine. I don't want to just have healthy recipes that I use for the next two months and then never use them again.

Through my research I have discovered that cauliflower needs to a part of my weekly shopping list. There are quite a few recipes where you can utilize cauliflower in place of other carbs.

Ingredients
1 medium head cauliflower
3 Tablespoons Plain Greek Yogurt (or you can use cream cheese)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/8 teaspoon straight chicken base or bullion
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions
Set a stockpot of water to boil over high heat.

Clean and cut cauliflower into small pieces. Cook in boiling water for about 6 minutes, or until well done. Drain well; do not let cool and pat cooked cauliflower very dry between several layers of paper towels.

In a bowl with an immersion blender, or in a food processor, puree the hot cauliflower with the yogurt, Parmesan, garlic, chicken base, and pepper until almost smooth.

The texture will be creamier than mashed potatoes. If it is too creamy, you can add a few teaspoons of corn starch or flour.