3-Ingredient Kale Chips

Lately I'm on a kick of cooking foods that require minimal ingredients and just letting the star flavors shine. Kale chips are a perfect example of this. All you need is a head of kale, a couple tbsp of olive or sunflower seed oil, and a good sprinkle of sea salt. They're suitable for vegans, celiacs, and are free from dairy, nuts, peanuts, citrus, soy, shellfish, and egg. I also love how healthy they are!

Ingredients
1 head of kale
2 tbsp olive or sunflower oil
sea salt to taste

Method
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set the oven to 400F. Wash the kale and separate the leafy bits from the hard stems. The stems will stay pretty fibrous and woody after roasting which will compromise the light texture of the crisps. Break the leaves into smaller pieces and lay them out evenly on the tray. It's fine if they overlap but avoid whole chunks being covered as they'll steam under there. Drizzle the oil over the kale and then sprinkle with salt. Place the tray on the middle rack of the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes. The leaves should be crispy and browned. Add more salt to taste and then serve immediately.

Swirl Sugar Cookies

This recipe does not call for any dairy, nuts, peanuts

Ingredients
1 cup Earth Balance spread (or other vegan butter, lard, or shortening)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 - 2 tbsp your favorite sprinkles
4 - 5 drops any one food coloring

Method
Cream the vegan butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt until smooth

Add the egg and beat well

Add half the flour and mix until just combined, then add the remaining flour and baking powder and mix well

Separate the dough into 2 equal portions. Shape one piece into a square and wrap in parchment paper. Put in the fridge. Mash the food coloring and sprinkles into the other half and then shape into a square and wrap in parchment. Refrigerate both portions of dough for at least one hour. It needs to set and firm up for the best finished product. One of the parchment pieces should be large enough to roll the dough out on afterwards to avoid waste.

After the dough has chilled take it out of the fridge and stack the colored piece on top of the plain one. Dust the surface lightly with flour, then begin to carefully roll the dough out into a rectangle approximately 14 inches x 5 inches wide.

Use the parchment to roll up the dough into a log. It should look like a pinwheel from the side

Cut slices anywhere from 1 - 1.5 cm wide, depending on how doughy you like your cookies. Place 1 inch apart on a nonstick baking sheet and place in a preheated 375F oven. Bake for 6 - 8 minutes, until golden brown