Krispy Kale

I don't know what convinced me to give oven roasted kale a try. I honestly did NOT believe kale could be this addicting, but another food blogger compared them to salty chips...and who doesn't like salty chips? You too will be surprised at how easy and tasty these Krispy Kale chips are. With just three simple ingredients the kale will bake to a delish crackly snack.

First, wash and dry the kale leaves. Then tear or cut the thick stems off and chop long leaves into smaller pieces.

Make sure the kale is very dry, any water on the leaves may make them steam in the oven, leaving you with soggy, not crunchy kale. Drizzle on just a small amount of olive oil (1/2 teaspoon for this one tray) and massage the oil all over.

Then spread the kale out on a cookie sheet. You don't really even have to worry about the leaves overlapping because the kale will shrink in the oven. I simply sprinkled on some course sea salt, but you can certainly get creative and add whatever flavors you like. Minced garlic would be good as well as a cajun seasoning perhaps.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes. Check after five minutes and adjust your time if you need to in order to keep them from burning. These are great for people like me who like crunchy salty things. Krispy Kale is so much better for you than a bag of processed chips!

Now that they are baked until crisp, you can do so many things! Instead of standing over the cookie sheet and eating them all myself, next time I want to crumble these up and stir in with some popcorn to up the nutritional value. I love gourmet popcorn!

Here is what I found out about buying and storing Kale:
BUYING - Kale should have a fresh green colour with moist, crisp, unwilted leaves. Young, small-leaved specimens are more tender; bigger leaves are well suited for use in soups.
STORING - Keep in a plastic bag in the fridge. Kale becomes increasingly bitter and strongly flavoured the longer it is kept and so is best eaten soon after buying.

One of my readers sent me this awesome tip:
"I really enjoy reading your blog posts. Just wanted to share something I tried recently. I found that seasoned kale chips go really well with grilled fish. If you haven’t tried kale chips before, they are so simple to make. I like to season mine with either smoked sea salt or kosher, black pepper and a tiny bit of malt vinegar. When you bake them, the texture is almost like dried leaves. It is a great balance for a delicate fish and a healthy boost! I also like to fry cilantro leaves in browned butter. Not quite as healthy but soooooooo good."

Ahh! I love that pairing idea, and we've been on such a fish eating frenzy around here that this is a perfect new twist on "Fish and Chips." Get it? Thanks Jessica, keep the ideas coming!