Kale Chips: Super Food. Super Delicious.
Have I mentioned that I love kale? Well, I do. And it is my extreme pleasure to discover all sorts of ways to eat it. Usually, I’ll throw it in some pasta or just saute it in some butter, olive oil and garlic and have it as a side. I’ll take this moment to mention that I also don’t have much of a sweet tooth. I have more of a fried-crunchy-salty tooth. Fry it up. Make it crunch. Throw some salt on it (Though it’s one of my biggest pet peeves when things are over-salted, I actually have abnormally low blood pressure so it’s kind of good for me when I take in a bit of salt once in a while. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.) and, well, I’ll pretty much eat the darn thing. I may have been stereotypically southern in another life time. Actually, I think if I had been born in another life time, I would probably have been a mother of 15 during the depression. And possibly have been in the mafia some one point. But those are for another post, another day. Anyway, with my love of the savory, crunchy and fried, I tend to like things like potato chips, fries, FRIED CHICKEN (is there anything better?!) so when I was first told about kale chips, well, you can imagine my pushing old ladies aside to run to the store and buy me some kale.
Quite possibly one of the easiest things to make, kale chips satisfy these particular taste preferences. AND it’s healthy. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’ll stop eating potato chips (no kale will ever satisfy my love for salt and vinegar kettle chips), fries and fried chicken (!), but it does mean that I can eat an entire batch (read: an entire batch of fresh kale) and not feel like a complete jerk in the morning - and not so bloaty either.
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Kale Chips (makes about 2.5-3 cups dried)
1 bunch kale - washed, well-dried, and torn into bite size pieces
Light drizzle of olive oil (seriously, a light drizzle, no need to coat it all)
Dash of salt
—when I make a large batch for myself, I’ll section off bits and put different seasonings on with the salt: Fresh ground pepper. Garlic powder. Freshly grated parmesan. A light drizzle of my new favorite thing. Anything you want. They’re your chips.
Pre-heat oven to 350. Scatter raw kale onto a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Let it bake for about 10 minutes and check on it. The edges should be very lightly brown. Do not over bake. When you pull it out of the oven, they’ll keep cooking for a bit while they’re on the sheet. Sometimes the ones in the middle of the pan won’t be done but the outer ones will. I’ll pull those off and season them and stick the other back in the oven for another minute or two. When they’re all out, season and enjoy. Try and be civilized and make it back to the couch instead of eatting it all from the stovetop. Not that I’ve done that. Recently anyway.
