That’s right, I said baked. I didn’t know if it was possible to bake a wonton and have it turn out, but I wanted to give it a try. I’ve never been into fried foods. Not only do they sit in my stomach wrong, but unless you own a deep fryer, which I do not, they are a pain to make. Picture a pan full of oil splattering all over you, your stove, your countertops, your walls, and whatever you do, don’t look at your ceiling.

Fine, I’m exaggerating.

But still. Frying foods without the proper equipment stinks. And lest we forget, fried foods are not particularly good for you. So if any of the above reasons apply to you, give baked wontons a try. They don’t have the same crispness as the fried version, but they do contain good crunch. Different crunch, but crunch nonetheless. They don’t leave you feeling all bogged down inside, and the ingredients within the wrapper take center stage, as your taste buds are not being bombarded by oil.

My husband’s verdict: They rule, he said. “I could eat them all day long.”

Ingredients:

½ lb. ground sausage
2 tbsp. chopped garlic
2 tbsp. chopped ginger
sprinkling of red pepper flakes
chopped fresh basil, about 2 tbsp.
1 package wonton wrappers (can be purchased in the produce section of you supermarket, near the tofu products)
olive oil
plum sauce (can be purchased in the Asian section of most supermarkets)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cook sausage with garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Add fresh basil once cooked.

3. On a large baking sheet, assemble wontons according to package directions. Once they are assembled, brush the tops and bottoms with olive oil and place in oven.

4. Bake, flipping frequently, until tops and bottoms begin to brown. Remove from oven and let cool. Serve with plum sauce.

Whole Wheat Apricot Bread
(adapted from the Bob’s Red Mill recipe)

Ingredients:

1 cup dried apricots, cut into small pieces
¾ cup milk
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. nutmeg
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup honey
1 egg, beaten

Directions:

1. Place chopped apricots into milk and let them soak for an hour.

2. After the apricots have soaked, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. Combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl.

4. In a separate bowl, combine, olive oil, honey, beaten egg, and the milk and apricots. Mix until honey is dissolved.

5. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Pour in wet mixture, and mix until well combined.

6. Place mixture in a lightly greased loaf pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool.

This week, for my husband’s brown bag lunch, I made him:

Barbeque chicken, cheddar, and brown rice burritos with whole grain wraps
mixed spring green salad with cucumber or other veggie and Italian or Balsamic dressing
two pieces of fruit, with a choice of peaches, plums, grapes, apples, bananas
homemade granola, sweetened with honey; includes cashews, dried cranberries and blueberries
Tillamook yogurt, with a choice between huckleberry, strawberry, raspberry, and vanilla
Banana-currant muffin, prepared with plain non-fat yogurt, olive oil, and honey
homemade sweet potato and red potato baked chips; RECIPE BELOW

Clearly, my husband eats quite a bit. He’s a foreman for a sheet metal company, and on big jobs, he can walk several miles, or more, a day. Plus, he’s always up and down ladders, or climbing in and out of tight spaces, like duct work or attics. He needs the calories. But if you, or your kids, don’t, omit two or three of these items.

Here’s the recipe for the week:

Baked Sweet and Red Potato Chips

3 medium-large sweet potatoes
4 small-medium red potatoes
¼ cup olive oil
sea salt
fresh ground pepper

Special Equipment:

mandolin (optional; I didn’t use one, but you bet I will buy one for next time!)
pizza pan that allows air to flow through (not a solid stone, in other words)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Wash and peel the sweet potatoes. Slice thinly. If you own a mandolin, use it!

Wash red potatoes and slice thinly. I don’t bother peeling mine, but you can, if you want.

In batches, arrange in a single layer atop a lightly greased pizza pan. Brush the tops of potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Grind fresh ground pepper over the top.

Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until crisp, checking often. (I checked mine every five minutes, and, using a pair of tongs, flipped them to prevent sticking and to achieve a more uniform color.)

Allow to dry on a cooling wrack. Check for crispness before sealing chips in an airtight container. If you need to, put the soft chips back in the oven until dry.

Delish!!