Crispy Kale Chips

Posted on September 27, 2013 By Christina D. side-dishes and appetizers

Since becoming a parent, there are several topics I’ve had seemingly endless conversations about. One of those topics is vegetables, and the mystery of how to convince toddlers that veggies are not, in fact, their mortal enemies. Maggie has surprised me with what she will and will not eat - for example, she will often snack on strips of raw bell pepper, but refuses to eat grapes. What kid chooses orange bell peppers over grapes? Apparently, my kid does.

Every kid is different, but it seems like the majority of parents I know have to consciously put in effort to make sure their children eat a sufficient amount of vegetables. I’ve certainly taken the sneaky route and the smother-it-in-cheese-and-tomato-sauce route to get Maggie to accept healthy foods. But recently, one of my best friends hit me with this lightning bolt: my godson apparently loves kale chips.

My first thought was, “Of course! Kale chips!” I used to make those all the time and loved them, but somehow they have fallen off my radar the last couple of years. As my friend put it, “[kale] is a dark leafy green and basically the vegetable equivalent of sainthood.” It has been touted as a super-food on the internet for years on account of its superabundance of vitamins C, A, and K (not to mention several other minerals and vitamins commonly missing from kids’ diets). This is a food my whole family should be eating, myself included!

The thing I love best about kale chips is that they are so, so easy to make. The hardest part is finding the perfect time in your oven that will make them deliciously crisp but not burn them. Once you find that magic number, you can pretty much make these on autopilot!

Here’s all you need:

• a bunch of kale
• olive oil
• some sea salt (you could also use a seasoned salt if you prefer)

For this batch, I only used four stalks of the kale because I wanted to see if Maggie liked the chips before I made a giant batch.

First, preheat your oven to 350 F.

After rinsing your stalks, just tear the leaves into bite-sized pieces (small and uniform so they all crisp up in the same amount of time).

Dry them well with a towel or salad spinner, then place them in a large bowl.

Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt (about a tablespoon of oil and a teaspoon of salt for an average-sized bunch).

Then toss to thoroughly coat.

Spread the leaves out on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. (They will shrink up a lot as they bake.)

Bake at 350° F for approximately fifteen minutes, until the edges start to brown.

I suggest that the first time you do this, you set the timer for 12 minutes and then check every couple of minutes until they look crispy and slightly brown, then remember to write down how long it took for next time you make them. 15 minutes is the perfect time in my oven.

That’s it! My four stalks yielded a nice side dish for our dinner. Not only did Maggie voluntarily reach back in for seconds and thirds, my husband also commented that they were better than he remembered and ate a healthy serving himself. Victory!

What do you think? Would your kiddos go for these?

See this article for more ideas on how to eat kale.

Added by Christina D. on September 27, 2013.
Saved under side-dishes and appetizers
Tags: crispy kale chips, healthy eating, kale, kale chips, veggies

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