Category Archives: Snacks

Yuca Fries- If bread and potatoes had babies, it would be yuca.

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Genesis gets excited once in awhile about food from his country, El Salvador. One of these things is yuca. We don’t have it often, but it is always a treat when we do. The texture of yuca is fluffy, and dense. It is like a super rich potato crossed with fluffy bread. You’re confused, I understand, just trust me. Oh, and yuca looks like a waxy log, and when you peel it it smells like lavender… so there’s that too. But, once you’ve peeled it, cut out any brown spots, boiled it briefly, and baked it, you have awesome fries. Give it a shot! Hell, I might even try mashing them, I’ve heard good things!

Waxy logs, see, I told you! Scroll down for the interior-deliciousness.

Yuca Fries

Ingredients

  • Two yuca roots (see above)
  • your favourite oil
  • salt

Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to 400°F.
  2. Peel your yuca well. It is easy to do, that skin is not as thick as it looks and feels.
  3. Cut the yuca into three even chunks, cut those chunks into fry-sized wedges.
  4. Fill a large pot with water and some salt, bring to a boil. Add yuca. Boil your yuca for 8 minutes, this will help the baking.
  5. Drain the yuca and pat dry. Some of the yuca might seem a little gummy, this will sort itself out during baking.
  6. Lay the yuca on a parchment-covered cookie sheet and drizzle well with oil. Toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt (and spices of your choosing).
  7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, flipping once, until crisp and browned on the outside, creamy on the inside.
  8. Dip into Basil Aiolior even Walnut & Feta Dip!

Tasty (half batch) yuca fries with Walnut Feta Dip.

Kale Chips, easy and delicious treat that is healthy!

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Kale is tasty when sautéed with some garlic, but I’ve been hearing so much about kale chips, that I had to try for myself. Kale was super cheap at IGA on the weekend, so I bought a couple bunches and gave it a shot. These are so thin and crisp, so delicious! Most of them kept their deep green colour, which I liked, but those that browned a little were still fantastic. These can be easily flavoured, and I am going to try that with my next batch, but the simple salt and olive oil version was great for a first shot. Don’t be afraid of these, I was, crispy greens is not something that normally tickles my fancy, but this just seemed right.

Kale Chips

Three ingredients

  • 1 head of kale
  • 2 tbsps olive oil
  • salt to taste (I used about 1 tsp)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 280°F
  2. Wash your kale.
  3. Cut away the… spine… of the kale leafs. Cut the kale into 2-3 inch pieces.
  4. Place kale on a parchment-papered cookie tray, sprinkle with oil and toss to coat.
  5. Sprinkle with salt, toss again to evenly salt.
  6. Spread the pieces fairly evenly on the tray.
  7. Cook for ten minutes, gently flip, cook for another 10. Devour.

Tossed in oil, ready for some salt (and spices in the future, check back next week!)

Munching time! Gen loved these.

Cookie Dough Dip

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Another cookie dough related post! This was the second dip I brought to my friends’ party, the first being the glorious, much loved Buffalo Chicken Dip. This dip was also well-received, served with simple cookies and some apple slices. It is sweet but not too sweet, fluffy, and distinctly tastes of a lovely cookie dough. Wanted to try this type of a sweet dip, enjoyed it, may make it in the future.

Cookie Dough Dip

Adapted from this recipe.

Ingredients

  • 1 – 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Cream together cream cheese and butter.
  2. Add remaining ingredients and mix until well-combined.
  3. Serve with light cookies (in flavour, try to find sturdy cookies, this dip is fluffy but still needs a strong cookie, the ones I picked were a little delicate) or apple wedges. Also, nearer the end of the night, some were eating this with carrots which they claimed tasted like carrot cake… so, to each their own. This dip is good to make the day before, it stayed fluffy and smooth overnight.

Whipping it all together.

Gen is doing some stellar hand-modelling.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

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I know, I am dip-crazy lately. Dips are easy, delicious, and you can make a few for a single event, perfect! This dip was the result of my Googling “best dip ever.” And it was pretty amazing! There are only five ingredients (a tiny change from the original recipe) and it is killer, it tastes just like hot wings dipped in ranch dressing, but you scoop it up with a chip or some celery. You can mix it up with some blue cheese dressing if that’s your thing too, it’s not mine. Make this this weekend for that party you have to go to. Or, if you have no parties, make this anyway so you have some delicious to eat all weekend, by yourself…

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Found in the Chowhound forums.

Serves: a small party  ♦ Time: aside from boiling the chicken… 10 minutes prep, 40 minutes cooking, 10 minutes cooling → 1 hr total

Ingredients

  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 2 pounds, boiled and shredded with 2 forks (you can also use a roasted chicken from the store)
  • 1 1/2 cup Frank’s Hot Sauce (whole 12oz bottle) (do NOT substitute, this is the only sauce to give the wing flavour, it’s not too spicy, don’t worry)
  • 2 – 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
  • 1 bottle Ranch dressing (450ml, 16oz) (try with blue cheese dressing, or half ranch and half blue cheese!)
  • 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
  2. In a medium bowl, toss together the shredded chicken and the Frank’s. Spread the chicken in an even layer in the bottom of a 13 x 9 inch baking pan.
  3. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine cream cheese and entire bottle of Ranch dressing, stirring til hot and smooth (mine never got totally smooth, but it was even, good enough!). Pour this mixture evenly over chicken mixture.
  4. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes.
  5. Add the shredded cheese and bake uncovered for another 20 minutes or til bubbly.  Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes. Serve with celery and chips for scooping and devouring!

Ready to spread the ranch-cream cheese mixture.

I was too slow to get a pristine picture. This dip went quickly, it is fabulous!

Walnut Feta Dip

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I was inspired to create this dip by this recipe of the same name. As I’ve mentioned before, we have been eating a lot of walnuts lately and we had a ton of feta left over from the pizza, so it was the perfect time to try out this dip. I always make a point of making something once before adjusting it. This time, it only took me as long as I mixing it to know it needed some adjustments to be right for me. I’ve done so much to the original recipe that I will be calling it an inspiration rather than an adaptation. The original was good, but was a little much for me, with some changes this dip is rich but also lighter and brighter.

Walnut Feta Dip

Inspired by Princess Misia’s Roasted Walnuts & Feta Dip

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups walnuts (halves, shelled)
  • 2 cups of feta
  • a tsp of brine if you want
  • 1/4 cup greek yogurt
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 lemons worth of juice
  • 1/4 cup milk

Directions

  1. Place everything in a food processor and blend into as smooth as possible/as smooth as you’d like. Taste, adjust flavours as necessary (maybe more lemon, maybe some of your favourite herbs).
  2. Serve with veggies, pita, chips, a spoon.