One of the ways that I managed to keep up my veggie consumption during my previous eating paleo was through making baked kale chips.
They’re incredibly simple and rather tasty to boot, so after being asked for my recipe a few times by other people I’ve decided to share it here.
To start off with, you need kale:
Strip the flexible portions off of the thick center stem and wash them if you need to, then lay them out on a baking tray. I personally use a pyrex baking dish because it can fit into my dish washer, while the baking trays cannot.
To make it easier to eat once cooked, you should tear the kale pieces into smaller sizes, so that you can easily eat them as finger food. Don’t worry about leaving space between the pieces, but don’t overlap them or they won’t get any flavouring later in the process.
The next step is to add the oil and any flavoring that you want. I use spray oil for no reason other than pure convenience on my part. I’ve even dipped the leaves in oil in the past, but that was far messier.
However you do it, all you need is a light, thin layer of oil on top of the kale. This helps it to crisp properly and helps the flavouring stick. Baked kale chips have a very bland flavour to me. It’s not objectionable, but I like something with a bit of a stronger taste, so I lightly salt the kale chips after I spray on the oil.
Now that everything’s ready, we need to bake the kale. I preheat the oven to 350 degrees and put the tray on the middle rack.
The time is the trickiest part of the entire recipe. On my oven, it takes 20 minutes to bake the kale. However, the time can change depending on how much oil is on the kale pieces and how your oven heats. My friend’s oven burns the kale if he leaves it in for longer than 5 minutes.
Ideally, you want to bake the kale until it is crispy, leaving you with a tasty and healthy substitute for potato chips. Here’s how my batch looked when complete:
My suggestion is to check them regularly for the first couple of times that you cook them in your oven, and use that to establish your timeline.
A single bundle of kale can make quite a large quantity of kale chips. I find that they always taste better fresh, so I tend to just cook them as needed rather than stocking up on them.
Good luck and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
I bake Kale Chips too – they are a unique flavour, but they are good and it is wonderful snacking on something so healthy! I agree that after about 10 minutes, you should definitely start checking your chips because once they start to brown, they lose their delicious taste! You should link this up on the Foodie Friday Blog Hop http://www.talkingmomcents.com/2012/02/foodie-friday-blog-hop-week-3-now-on.html
Thanks for participating in SASS this weekend!
http://www.multitestingmommy.com/2012/02/come-out-and-sass-back-with-saturday.html
I hadn’t even known about the Foodie Friday Blog Hop. Thanks for the kind comment and for pointing me in the direction of another Blog Hop!
You’re very welcome
I was just talking to a coworker about Kale chips this week. I should really try making some myself! They look great and are easy to prepare.
Thanks for participating in SASS, hope to see you again next week
This is easily the weirdest and coolest recipe I’ve seen yet in my blogging travels. I’m going to get my wife on it post haste! I am an absolute klutz in the kitchen….Thanks!!
Thanks! I hope you like the results. I’ll be trying the same concept with baked spinach this weekend to see if I can make it just as good. This has the potential to add a great deal of veggie consumption to my diet! *grin*
Oh, yum! I’ve been meaning to try this for a while now, and you make it all sound so simple. Pinning this so I can come back to it after I’ve had a chance to pick up some kale. -SASS
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