FRIED BANANA PEPPERS
BY BROOKE EAGLE
Last summer while on vacation, my husband and I stumbled across a local restaurant that we thought we’d give a try. This restaurant had several unique appetizer choices; we finally decided to try the fried banana pepper rings. To be honest, this wasn’t what I would’ve chosen as I don’t even like banana peppers. However, my husband LOVES them, and I figured anything fried can’t taste too terrible. Right? Well, I was right. It was love at first bite. We were borderline barbaric as we both scrambled to try to get the last banana pepper ring out of the basket. No crumb was left behind. Even before we left the restaurant, we vowed to attempt to make this delicacy at home. Lucky for me, my husband is quite the chef and figured out a super easy and delicious recipe that rivals the restaurant we originally found them in. This is a perfect appetizer and is guaranteed to impress any dinner guests.
CHRIS’ FRIED BANANA PEPPER RINGS
Serves 3-4 (as an appetizer)
INGREDIENTS: • 1 can of hot banana pepper rings • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour • 1 Tablespoon seasoned salt • Corn oil DIRECTIONS: • Pour corn oil into a medium saucepan, enough so that the oil is 1 inch deep or so • Heat over medium high heat • Drain the jar of banana pepper rings • Dump the drained banana pepper rings into a bowl that has the flour and seasoned salt and toss until all banana peppers are lightly coated • Place banana pepper rings (in a single layer) into the oil • Fry until golden brown (2-3 minutes) • Drain on paper towels
KALE WALDORF SALAD
BY BROOKE EAGLE
If you aren’t a kale lover -- please keep reading! I am willing to (almost) guarantee you’ll still love this recipe. My mother-in-law initially found this recipe on Pinterest (thank you, Elise, with Simply Recipes!). My motherin-law and I have made a few tweaks to it. We love making recipes a bit healthier when possible; the original recipe was relatively healthy, but I would consider this version to be very healthy. Kale Waldorf Salad is the perfect side dish to almost any meal and could even be a meal in itself if served with something like grilled chicken. My mother-in-law made it for a recent family cookout we had, and my mom proclaimed that it is the absolute best thing she’s ever tasted! (And she “doesn’t like kale.” Ha!) Don’t forget to massage the kale -- it will take away some of that bitter taste Kale is notorious for having. The other ingredients in the recipe also balance out the bitterness of the Kale. Without further ado…
KALE WALDORF SALAD
• 2 cups Kale (packed) • ½ cup sweetened dried cranberries • 1 cup celery • 2 sweet red apples (medium-sized) • 1 cup lightly toasted walnuts
DRESSING:
• 1/3 cup of plain Greek yogurt • 2 T water • 1 ½ tsp Dijon mustard • 1 ½ tsp apple cider vinegar • salt & pepper DIRECTIONS: • Chop the kale, celery and apples. Coarsely chop the toasted walnuts. In a mixing bowl, add the kale, cranberries, celery, apples and walnuts. • Whisk together all dressing ingredients. • Toss dressing with kale mixture until combined. • Enjoy!
70
| ForsythMags.com