Crispy Baked Kale Chips

You know how sometimes you buy an ingredient for a recipe but then only end up using half of it and then the other half just sits around or goes bad?  I’ve found that kale can be one of those things.  Wastefulness is one of my pet peeves, whether it’s water, energy, food, whatever.  Remember when I made vegetable soup with kale and pesto a few days ago?  Well I had about half of the bunch of kale leftover from that.  I’ve been hearing about baked kale chips on Food Network for a little while now, so I decided to give kale chips a try.  After all, kale has amazing nutritional value – it’s very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and reasonably rich in calcium.  If that wasn’t convincing enough, it also has anti-cancer properties!

I happened to make these on a day when we had some family over for dinner.  I had made the kale chips earlier in the afternoon and they were on the table for people to snack on while we were making dinner.  Well, everyone gobbled them down and there were none left by the time dinner was served!  These would be wonderful for a snack or a to take to a get together instead of potato chips.  They have that crunchy texture that’s so satisfying, they’re extremely flavorful, and you can pop these chips into your mouth without feeling guilty!

These were very easy to make.  I basically just tossed the kale pieces with just enough olive oil to coat, salt, and pepper and baked them.  They turned out super light and crispy!  The thin, crisp texture actually surprised me, since kale is such a hearty green, but it was a pleasant surprise.  Since it was my first time making kale chips, I didn’t really flavor them with anything.  They were delicious as-is, but as I tasted them I thought I’d like to try them with parmesan cheese or cayenne pepper for a little more spice.  If you have any flavors you like to use, let me know!

Crispy Baked Kale Chips

Ingredients:

• Kale
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Wash and dry the kale, strip it from the stems, and tear it into chunks.  Then, toss it in a large bowl with just enough olive oil to coat, salt, and pepper.

Put a baking rack on top of a baking sheet, and spread the kale out in a single layer.  You may need more than one sheet.

Bake for 25-35 minutes, until edges begin to brown and kale is nice and crispy.