Kale Chips

                          

Not a great picture. I admit.  But these little crisps are delicious. They will satisfy even the worst of your salty cravings. And they are healthy. So go ahead, munch away to your heart's and belly's content! 

My husband is a salt and chocolate craver.  I haven't figured out an acceptable substitute for his chocolate needs, but he is in love with these kale chips.  He took one bite and said "You gotta blog these!" Two batches were gone in two days. And he keeps asking when I'm going to make more.  I think that qualifies as a pretty successful kitchen experiment!

I decided to try these because we have an over-abundance of kale in our garden.  I needed a new way to eat it.  And yes, I want to keep those potato chips out of our house! So I headed out to the garden and grabbed an armload of the dark leafy greens. My husband eyed me a little warily, not sure what i was about to do with this strange leaf.  Half an hour later, he was pleasantly surprised....and quite addicted. 

These are so simple and there are so many varieties you can make.  I made a salt and pepper batch, and a seasoned salt batch.  You could do Parmesan cheese, paprika, curry, garlic...the list goes on. 

KALE CHIPS RECIPE

Kale leaves washed and pretty dry

olive oil or olive oil spray

salt and pepper(or other flavoring)

Preheat your oven to 300.  Use a knife to remove the stem from the leaves, so the thick hard part is cut away completely.  Tear or cut your leaves into bite size pieces.  They will shrink up so leave them a bit bigger.  Toss with olive oil and salt and pepper, or lightly spray with the olive oil spray.  You just want a very fine coating. I used too much and they were a bit greasy. Pop them in the oven for 20-30 minutes on a baking sheet until they are crispy.  You may need to flip them after 15 minutes.   Enjoy!

These are delicious.  I would call them crispy and delicate, not crunchy per se. (So store them in a tupperware or bowl not a bag to prevent crushing.)  But they have that munchability that you want in a salty snack. They are a perfect movie snack, just plop a bowl in your lap and pop one after another. And kale has so many wonderful vitamins, as do all those dark leafy greens. So ditch the potato chips. Long live the KALE!