As I've been thinking about this post, one thing has been in my mind. This post may be dancing on that line between "Yes, I'm healthy," and "I'm HEALTHY." I could be wrong, but sometimes I think KALE is on that dividing line. You may love this post, or look at it and think, "I'm out." That's really ok with me.
I WILL say this. I was what you might call "behind" that line originally. Until I tried these. Now I'm a huge fan. I challenge you to try them at least once. Then make your decision. Honestly, I was never really a huge fan of kale. It's a tough and very strong tasting green. As a child, I only saw it when I fed it to a pet rabbit. (rabbit obsession alert) Lately, I have been experiencing it in a variety of dishes and actually liking it.
The great thing about Kale Chips is the transformation they undertake in the oven. No lie. Sometimes it baffles me how something so tough and chewy can become fragile and crumbling. Nevertheless, here we go. The recipe is simple, but will take some monitoring if you buy a large amount of kale.
Ingredients:
*Kale (try your local Produce Junction!)
*Pam Olive Oil Spray
*Seasonings
*You will also need cookie sheets, parchment paper, and to preheat your oven to 350.
You are going to begin by rinsing all of your kale and placing it on a paper towel or dish towel to dry. It is important that you give it time to really dry- or press it between towels to get the excess water off.
The next step is to trim the kale. Believe it or not, the easiest way to do this is with your kitchen scissors. What you want to do is cut the leafiness away from the thickest part of the stem. No one really eats or likes to taste this very fibrous part of the leaf. You can basically just cut the whole leaf in half making one cut down each side of the stem.
From here, you can cut (or rip) the leaves into smaller bite size pieces. Let's be honest, I rip the kale. This is not an exact science. Just rip the dang leaves. While the pieces are sitting on a towel, you'll want to cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Arrange your kale pieces on the parchment paper with a bit of space between each one. If the pieces are overlapped you may run across some pieces not being completely baked.
Next, spray each piece lightly with your spray Olive oil. This brand works really well for me. Now, I've seen different theories on this next part. Some recipes will tell you to season the chips after they are baked. I like to put my seasonings on before. I am of this opinion: why not bake your seasonings into the chip for more enhanced flavor?
So far, each time, I have used my "go-to" spice. A great garlic sea salt grinder I found at a discount store. In the future, I may branch out and go more bold with spices. (e.g. why not go with chili powder?!)
After seasoning your kale pieces, put them in the oven (at 350) for 10 minutes. If, at the ten minute mark, you notice they are not all looking crispy- keep going. With this important warning: Add on time in ONE TO TWO MINUTE INCREMENTS. It is very easy to burn these chips. Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything...Ok. Fine. I am. So there. And burnt kale chips- not tasty.
You'll see in this picture that the chips still have a good green coloring to them. If yours are brown...uh oh. Notice how much smaller they are! These leaves will now be delicate and crunchy. It will probably take you several rounds of this to finish all of your kale. (Depending on how much you buy!)
They definitely took on the salty, garlicy taste. Again, I'll say it, it's amazing how these just disintegrate in your mouth! When I'm craving something like crunchy, salty chips these are great. I can eat a ton and not feel bad later.
Give them a try and let me know how they turn out! OR pass on the healthy, healthy kale and come back here tomorrow. Why you ask? Because tomorrow I'm posting a CRAFT! Finally! I've been trying to get some more crafts for you to try out and it's finally here! See you here tomorrow!
<3
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