Ellie Krieger’s Oven Baked Onion Rings

We made burgers on the grill last night, and we needed a yummy side for them. I immediately think chips, french fries, or onion rings...anything crunchy and greasy, right? This wasn't what I really wanted; let's cut fat and calories where we can right? Especially when it comes to fried foods....there had to be a healthier option. I make baked sweet potato fries and chips all the time, but I already have that down to eat with our grilled Kobe beefs hot dogs later this week, so potatoes wouldn't work. Then it dawned on me! If you can bake potato fries, you can bake onion rings, right? OF COURSE! I launched my search online for baked onion rings...and I found this recipe from Elly Krieger.

It was perfect. So crunchy, the best flavor...I really think you should make these and see for yourself. They turned out so much better than I anticipated. I didn't think they would be that crunchy, and the hint of cayenne pepper was just right (it seemed to offset the saltiness of the chips). Brett said these were better than the burgers, and highlight of the meal...that's something coming from Brett who is typically into the meat portion of the meal and doesn't really say alot about what's on the table-unless I ask!

Ingredients (4 servings)

Cooking spray
4 cups baked potato chips (I used Baked Lays-original flavor)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 cup low fat buttermilk
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 to 2 large Vidalia onions, peeled (I used regular yellow onions)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet slightly with oil and set aside. Place potato chips in the bowl of a food processor and process into crumbs, about 20 seconds. Transfer to a shallow bowl, add cayenne, and set aside. In another bowl, combine buttermilk, 2 tablespoons of flour, salt and pepper and set aside. Slice onions into 1/2-inch circles and separate into rings, keeping only large, whole rings (reserve rest of onions for other uses). You should come out with about 12 to 14 rings.

Place the remaining flour in a sealable plastic bag, then add onions, and shake to coat. Dip onions 1 at a time into the buttermilk mixture, then dip into potato chip crumbs and place on baking sheet. Spray canola oil evenly over rings and bake for 20 minutes, or until coating is crisp. Season with salt, to taste, and serve immediately.

**My notes...I don't have a large food processor, so I simple made a tiny hole in the bag of chips and crushed them with my hands; just make sure you get them as fine as possible or they won't stick well. Also, I skipped putting the onions and flour in a bag. I had my onion slices in a bowl already so I just added the flour in the bowl and hand tossed them until they were covered.

Stir Fry Asparagus with Cashews

My first and only regret/apology...no photos of this yummy veggie side dish. Had I known it was this impressive, I would have. It was a long day and this was such a quick dinner to make; I just didn't think to grab a camera.

I had to post this recipe and I'm just asking you to trust me. Just make it. Soon. Its delicious, and so easy but looks so fancy. DH raved about it, and he is not a veggie eater, much less something that was as out of the ordinary for our meals. We usually stick to frozen/steamed broccoli, canned green beans, etc. I bet you could even add some chicken or tofu and make this more of a main dish.

I served this as a side with salmon (very lightly seasoned with seafood rub and baked in foil packets), and brown rice.

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root (I omitted this, I DO NOT like ginger related anything-seeing as I love the recipe so much, I guess it didn't hurt to leave it out.)
1 bunch asparagus stalks, ends cut
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup chopped cashews

DIRECTIONS
Heat olive oil and sesame oil in a wok over low to medium heat. Add ginger, and stir-fry until slightly brown. Add asparagus, and stir-fry for a few minutes before adding soy sauce and cashews. Cook until asparagus is tender but still crisp and bright green, stirring frequently.

Bleu Burgers

We had tons of Christmas leftovers, but are we the only ones that crave something greasy and salty right after Christmas? Don't get me wrong, we will eat the leftovers, and we will enjoy them. Christmas dinner was excellent. It always is. But, tonight, I wanted a burger and fries.

You have seen my sweet potato fries before so I won't waste time on that. I will note that I cut these a hint thicker and longer and we liked them much better. There was a little more to them, if you will. Last time, it was mostly spice, and crunch; not as much potato.

For the burger...it was a "Bleu Burger". This was simple and pretty quick! While the fries were going in the skillet, these patties were sizzling away on the George Foreman. It have been a very long time since I have used the George Foreman, but when I began to complain that I only have one large burner on the stove, and needed to use a large pan for both the fries and the patties, Brett piped up and said, "where's the Foreman?" It worked out perfect! Thanks, honey!

1 lb ground beef

1/3 cup crumbled bleu cheese(or as much as you like...I actually eyeballed it)

1/2 of a medium red onion, chopped

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; separate into 4 equal patties; cook desire way (grill, George Foreman, skillet, etc). We had ours on WW buns with mustard. You could dress it up with lettuce and tomato I suppose, but the bleu cheese and onion was just perfect to me.
Note that the original recipe said to cook a hamburger patty as you like (which might include more ingredients), and top with crumbles of bleu cheese, and sliced, raw, red onion. Brett doesn't like onion unless its tiny and cooked, so he actually suggested combining it all into the patty the way I did.

Oven Fried Chicken and Sweet Potato "Fries"

Since I was going out of town to see my mom, I wanted to cook up something to put in the fridge for Brett to eat while I was gone. Goodness knows, if I didn't, he might not eat!

This was simple and required few ingredients, so it was an easy decision. Oven Fried Honey Chicken, Sweet Potato "Fries" and Green Beans (which we out of a can!).

Oven Fried Honey Chicken

Ingredients:
4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

1 1/2 cups bread crumbs

cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375°F. In shallow bowl, whisk together honey and vinegar. Pour bread crumbs into separated bowl. Set bowls aside. Spray a foil-lined baking pan large enough to hold all chicken pieces in one layer. Roll chicken pieces in honey mixture, then in bread crumbs; place in pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until cooked thoroughly (browned and crisp coating).

Sweet Potato "Fries"

Ingredients:

(this was enough for two servings)

1 Large Sweet Potato

Canola Oil

Chili Powder

Cayenne Pepper

Season Salt

Salt

Wash and peel the sweet potato. Cut potato into thin strips about 4 inches long each. You can see from my photo that I wanted some about the size of a McDonald's french fry...this allows for crispier fries, and faster cooking. Heat a large skillet on medium high with about 1/4 inch deep layer of Canola oil. When oil is hot, drop in the "fries" in a single layer. Without stirring or adjusting, cook for about 4-5 minutes. Flip them, and cook for 4-5 minutes on the opposite side. You can watch them for doneness...when they begin to brown and crisp they are good to go.

Transfer fries to a napkin covered plate so the grease can drain off. As soon as you transfer them to the plate, before the grease has drained off, season to taste. I sprinkle, Chili power, Cayenne, season salt and salt. You can play with seasonings to your liking....just salt, more cayenne for heat, Cumin powder for some smokiness; I'm sure just some garlic powder or garlic salt would be good.