Healthy eating: Kale chips

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A few years ago, it was almost impossible to find kale. I became obsessed with it after learning more about the alkaline diet via Tony Robbins. Alkalizing is all about balancing the pH of your body and veggies such as spinach, cucumbers, broccoli and kale are all nutrient-packed alkaline-rich foods that are recommended.

If you've never heard of kale, it is a leafy green vegetable from the cabbage family, with a mild earthy flavor. Great for juicing or smoothies, baked in quiches or frittatas, or pan-fried with some bacon! (What isn't good with bacon? hehe)

Kale in season at Harris Farm Markets

I've previously paid as much as $4 for organic kale but now that it has become a more common ingredient, I've now bought it for as cheap as two for $3!

So with the sudden abundance of kale, it is now much more affordable to make loads of kale chips!

Why kale chips?

Well, when you're putting in the effort to workout regularly but sometimes crave the crunch of potato chips... Kale chips are a nutritious alternative!

Baking kale chips in the oven

They're ridiculously easy to make! You'll only need just over half an hour to do one bunch.

This isn't much of a recipe, as it is that simple.

Remove the leaves from the stem and cut or tear into 3 - 5cm pieces. Wash and dry thoroughly. Preheat the oven to 140°C. Spray with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and off you go! Spread them out on lined trays (single layer please!) and bake for 20 - 30 minutes then flip them over and bake for a further 10 minutes until crisp. Watch that they don't burn but don't remove them til they are crisp!

Kale chips

You can also jazz them up with some vinegar.

Salt & vinegar kale chips are the best snack ever.

White vinegar, balsamic vinegar or sherry vinegar all work well. Start with about 2 tablespoons of vinegar and adjust to taste. I like mine ultra tangy so I naturally add a bit more. Make sure your kale isn't soggy with too much vinegar though, they may never crisp up!

Kale chips with a twist - salt and vinegar flavoured!

Store excess kale chips in an air-tight container or divvy them up in zip-lock bags for later snacking!

Salt and vinegar kale chips

Salt and vinegar kale chips in ziplock bags


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If you haven't been to Ashfield's strip of Shanghainese restaurants in a while, you'll be in for a surprise. This new wave of chic New Shanghai restaurants has hit Ashfield and there's no turning back.

Long gone are the bland white walls and dingy ambiance. Now, you'll see exposed brick walls, bearing a slight resemblance to the longtang scape of it's Chatswood Chase sibling, while still keeping it's Ashfield cazh.

New Shanghai Ashfield - Chinese feast of dumplings, buns, noodles and more

I got slightly carried away when dining here recently... All this was to feed two!

New Shanghai Ashfield - chilled soya milk and mushroom starter

When in Shanghai, do as the Shanghai do. So with that in mind, I order a chilled glass of sweetened soya milk ($2.50) - the perfect accompaniment!

On the new seasonal cold dishes menu, I'm keen to try the smoked fresh soya bean ($4.80) but it's unavailable so the waitress recommends the dried mushroom ($5.80) which is surprisingly amazing! The mushrooms have a really good bite to it. There's another ingredient in the mix that reminds me of dried lily buds as it has a beautiful fragrance. If I ever were a vegetarian, this is what I'd like to be served. (Although we all know that's never going to happen as there's no way I'm willing to live without pork crackling or pho!)

New Shanghai Ashfield - pipis

The fried clams with XO sauce ($18.80) are too irresistible to pass. There isn't quite enough XO sauce to make the dish a standout but that doesn't stop us from licking absolutely every drop of sauce off the clam shells.

New Shanghai Ashfield - salted egg yolk calamari

My all time most favourite dishes at New Shanghai are the ones that feature salted duck egg yolk. Available with tofu, blue swimmer crab, prawns or calamari, there's something rather magical about the richness of the batter that makes it such a weakness of mine. I've never tried it with calamari before so that's what we have: deep fried calamari coated with salted duck yolk ($18.80). I think it may be the best combination yet. I love that they're all big generous pieces. A large mouthful of bliss!

New Shanghai Ashfield - Shanghai noodles

Its not a meal at New Shanghai unless you've eaten some stir fried handmade noodle with pork and vegetable ($8.80), New Shanghai steamed mini pork buns ($6.80), and New Shanghai pan fried crab meat and pork buns ($12.80). I must add, it's so pleasing to see that despite the makeover, the prices are still very reasonable. 

New Shanghai Ashfield - xiao long bao

New Shanghai Ashfield - pan fried buns

New Shanghai Ashfield - bok choy, tofu and mushrooms

Thinking we'd need some greens to balance out the meal, we also have the stir fried bok choy with mushrooms ($9.90). It's so simple but so tasty and I just can't get enough of thickened sauces! 

For dessert, we sample the new mini sticky rice balls in Chinese sweet rice wine soup ($6.80). This is topped with goji berries and a sprinkle of dried osmanthus. Sweet, perfumed and definitely alcoholic (I'm a cheap drunk, LOL), it's a fabulous finale to the feast.

New Shanghai Ashfield - dessert soup

New Shanghai
273 Liverpool Road Ashfield
Call (02) 9797 7284

New Shanghai on Urbanspoon

JENIUS dined as guests of Wasamedia & New Shanghai


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