Parmesan contains the most calcium, ounce-for-ounce, of all the other types of cheeses.
Why not incorporate this cheese into a high-protein afternoon snack for after school? I watched Alton Brown make Parmesan cheese crisps in a snap. And snappy, they are. Delicious, crunchy, easy and quick. The kids can even grate their own cheese and make their own. Parchment paper is a must:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grate Parmesan cheese into little piles on parchment paper, on top of cookie sheet. Make as many piles as you’d like.
- Scrape the stray strands of cheese into the piles, so that you won’t have any left-over crumbs. Be sure every piece of cheese belongs to a cracker.
- Place in the oven and bake for approximately 8 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Cool on parchment paper.
You could add sesame seeds, rosemary, thyme, red pepper… the possibilities are endless. Of course, plain and simple is always just right for kids.
As the crisps come out of the oven, Alton picked up the very warm crackers and molded them around the tops of spice bottles, so that they would cool and harden into the shape of little tarts. Once cool and hard, you fill the little cheese tarts with salsa, tomatoes, or any other kind of Italian veggie.
Wow those sound tasty.
We love these in my house. My 7 year old daughter figured out she could make them in the microwave herself. So, now they’re her favorite salad topping. Field greens, parmesan crisps, walnut and raspberry vinaigrette is her “signature dish”.
To microwave them, put them on a paper plate, and mound 1 tbsp of shredded parmesan or romano (grated just won’t work). 3 fit very nicely on a paper plate, and will take about 45 seconds. She adds about 5 seconds for each additional crisp.
Yum!