Kale is another one of those super-nutritious vegetables that I never know exactly how to prepare. Several years ago I joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) for the summer. Every week we received a random assortment of crops from the farm. For some reason, the farm I joined grew TONS of kale. Maybe kale is just easy to grow in Massachusetts. I'm not sure, but I found myself just sauteing it with garlic Chinese style every week.
About a year ago, while perusing Joy's excellent blog, I came upon her post about kale chips. I was definitely intrigued. Not only would this be a new way of making kale, she said it reminded her of nori (dried seaweed) which I love. Furthermore, she was able to bring it as a snack to a baseball game!
This definitely sounded like something I had to try.
Oven Roasted Kale "Chips"
1 bunch of kale leaves, shredded by hand
vegetable oil to coat (or optionally, vegetable oil spray)
salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Wash and dry the kale leaves. It's ideal if you can dry the leaves as much as possible, since you will eventually need to desiccate them completely in the oven. I used an OXO Salad Spinner, which works quite nicely. Tear the leaves into "bite size" pieces (the leaves will shrink, so you can be generous with the size of your "bite").
Toss the leaves with vegetable oil to coat. I tried two trays with two different types of oil - olive oil and sesame oil. You can use whatever oil you like.
Alternatively, you can spray the baking tray with oil, lay out the kale leaves in a single sheet, and then spray liberally with more oil.
Salt lightly. This is important. If you are used to stir frying veggies, you might think there's a certain amount that is necessary. Add LESS than that!! These leaves will shrink significantly and most likely you will have added too much salt! I made this mistake!!!! Maybe about a teaspoon max for the entire bunch of kale!
Roast for about 15 minutes, checking at least once during baking to toss/stir the leaves.
Let cool and enjoy!
These were pretty delicious - just a bit too salty, which I think can be easily remedied. The texture was great, and it really is like Japanese nori - fragrant, delicate, and crumbly. It's good at room temperature and lasts for weeks. It's a great way to preserve kale if you are afraid of it going bad soon.
we always mean to try these healthy "chips" but end up getting the real chips instead :P
ReplyDeleteHow did you make these Chinese style with garlic? That sounds delicious...*drool*
ReplyDeleteThese sound good. I somehow wound up with a lot of starches on the menu this week -- maybe I should make some kale chips.
ReplyDeleteOoh, a garlicky version sounds delicious!
ReplyDeleteHow did the sesame oil version turn out vs. the olive oil version?
And thanks for the shout out. ;)
I LOVE kale chips! The roasting process really transforms the veggie into crisp "chips". YUM.
ReplyDeletethese look great - gave the post a Stumble for you, so others can enjoy too. :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome. I must try this. We've been getting a lot of kale in our CSA box and I generally sautee it or throw it in a soup. These chips sound great!
ReplyDeleteSo creative, and healthy too!
ReplyDeleteLovely alternative, I like crispy, must try this, thnx.
ReplyDeleteMy son's girlfriend made kale chips recently. They really are delicious. I'll definitely have to give them a try. Your pictures have convinced me!
ReplyDeleteSean - for "Chinese style" I usually just saute the kale with crushed garlic and add a bit of salt. Maybe hot sauce if I think of it.
ReplyDeleteJoy - the sesame one smelled much more Asian (like Korean nori) whereas the olive oil one was a bit more subtle. In my case, since I had made it a bit too salty, the salt sort of overpowered eveything. I'll have to try it again. :)
Donalyn - thanks so much for the Stumble! Much appreciated.
sounds like a great idea! i'll have to try it sometime.
ReplyDeletepretty! love the caramelized green shade.
ReplyDelete