By Mermaid Debbie
Have you heard about these yet? I first heard about Baked Kale Chips on Facebook! A friend was talking about how good they were. I immediately followed her link to the recipe and saved it. That was about 7 months ago. I meant to try them sooner, but kept forgetting! I have nothing against kale, really, but it is not on my regular shopping list. It should be!!!
Kale is a power-packed food, rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, and more!!! It is really good for you!
So, funny thing... the day I choose to finally try making kale chips is a football day! I didn't plan it that way. Who would? There is no way I would think that my husband, dad, brother-in-law, and next door neighbor, Leonard would appreciate me setting out a big bowl of kale for their mindless munching! It just happened that I saw that kale in my crisper drawer and thought, "It's now or never. That kale will sit there all week and get yellow and slimy if you don't do it now!"
My husband strolled into the kitchen and I saw a look of slight horror, disgust, and maybe even a bit of a "defensive" stance.... Don't make me eat that. When I said I was making kale chips? The look in his eyes, even his body language, became more intense. He went straight to the pantry and grabbed a bag of potato chips!
I love to cook and my guys like my cooking. As our guests started arriving, one-by-one, they wandered into the kitchen and found me with my oven mits on. Oh, I know they were anticipating something amazing. The baking kale smelled slightly toasty like pumpkin seeds roasting... So funny to see them try to hide their disappointment. I felt like an imposter. They thought I was making artichoke dip or some other rich and decadent snack that would be followed by a bottle of Tums!
My dad, however is adventurous and he was the first to give it a try. (really, I was just making them for my mom and me. I had chips and dip and pizza for the guys!) Dad, crunched into the strange looking chip and said, "Yum, this is delicious! Wow. What is this? I love it! Can I have more please?" (all in one run-on sentence!)
So, dad took the first batch into the living room and set it on the coffee table. I heard him telling the others they needed to try these. I also heard my brother-in-law say, "Heck no!" (that's not the exact translation) I snuck in and took a peak a few minutes later. Ha! Each of the guys was mindlessly munching on kale chips, watching the pre-game commentary and passing the bowl of funny-looking, crisp, green leaves around like it was a bowl of Cheetos! Love it!!! I went through 2 huge bunches of kale that day!
Here's the recipe!!! Give it a try. See what you think? I'm still surprised at their reaction.
1 bunch kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon seasoned salt or sea salt
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper. (I used a silpat sheet)
With your fingers, a knife, or kitchen shears, carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.
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