I can hear you now, "Kale chips?!" Uh huh, I know. It sounds totally nasty. And they aren't exactly pretty either. I kept hearing my blogger buddies Elana and Melissa go on and on about how "delicious and nutritious" kale was "blah blah blah" and I would wrinkle my nose and think a sarcastic, "Yeah, right."
I didn't believe them, but I was intrigued by the idea. What if I could eat more greens in a miraculously tasty way? I kind of wanted to try out Melissa's kale chip recipe just because it was weird.
Well, well, well...something curious and strange happens to the kale when you bake it! It behaves a bit like Shrinky Dinks. Remember those? They come out of the oven half the size they were when you put them in. The moisture is sucked out and this creates a fun crispy texture that I can't get enough of...and...I ate a whole head of kale last night! Uh huh. Crazy, but in a good way!
Oh, and the strong earthy flavor of the raw kale is muted just a tad and blends quite nicely with the sea salt and whatever other flavors you decide to add.
THE KALE CHIP CHALLENGE
I'm seriously challenging you to try making and tasting kale chips! Seriously. Try them and either post about it on your blog and I'll link to it, or come back here and post a comment about them. Have fun trying to personalize the flavor in some way. Even if you don't like them in the end you'll score brownie points for trying. I just think that kale is our homely, bitter vegetable friend that needs a little help getting down the hatch, and more people might be surprised at how much they like it once they try it this way.
Kale Chip Recipe
Adapted from Melissa at Gluten-Free For Good
Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Submerge your kale into a bowl of clean water to wash it.
Drain on a cloth towel.
Rip pieces of the green leafy part off into bite size pieces and discard the heavy stalk.
Place on a baking sheet. (I love my, corny as it is, Pampered Chef stoneware pan for jobs like this.) Spread out evenly and do not overlap any of the kale.
Spray with olive oil. What?! You don't have an olive oil sprayer?! *gasp* You really need to get one. It will change your life. I suppose drizzling olive oil will do.
Sprinkle with sea salt. Use your discretion.
I personalized my kale chips and sprinkled them with garlic powder.
Bake on middle rack in oven for 13 minutes. Check on your kale chips just to make sure they don't burn, in case your oven runs hot. Mine only took 13 minutes, and the original recipe said 15 minutes.
Now, try to eat just one chip. Go ahead, I dare ya.
YOUR KALE CHIP CHALLENGE LINKS
Your response to my challenge was amazing! Many people posted comments about how much they liked the kale chips...kids included! One person had never eaten kale before! Wow! What a bunch of troopers! Here are some links to your kale experiments and additional ways that you like to eat kale.
Kim The Food Allergy Coach's Kale Chip Experience
Smita's Food Art Smita didn't link to kale, but her food art blog sure is cute and inspiring.
