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So, I’m starting a series. Which is pretty pretentious after only 18 posts, but there you go.
I profess to loving most junk food in all forms (except black licorice – blech). But it there was a stand-out winner in my Junkfood Olympics, it is chips.
Ah, potato chips, how I love thee. Salty, crunchy, fatty. Downright delectable. Tortilla chips will do in a pinch. What’s not to love?
A pile of potato chips. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Well, maybe the fact that they’re bad for you. Because they are. And speaking as someone who can almost eat an entire large-sized bag in a day, given time and opportunity, it’s really bad. It’s also a good thing I can’t get Miss Vicky’s down here in the desert.
So I went a-hunting and found to my utter astonishment that kale chips are a thing. At least an internet thing. But not like Rebecca Black or the Hamster Dance, so don’t worry. And thanks to our lovely co-op, I had two emerald-green bunches of Tuscan kale taking up space in my fridge. Yippee!
So I took something that look like this:
Lacinato (Photo credit: anthimeria)
And made something like this:
Ok. They’re not pretty, but please don’t say that too loud: they might hear and never want to come and play at my house again.
Tuscan (Lacinato) kale is slightly different from the usual kale you find in a supermarket. The leaves are sort of all-over curly instead of just towards the ends. Still, they’re awesome and you can use whatever you have access to whenever you crave this. Here’s the recipe:
1 bunch kale, washed, thoroughly dried and torn into bite-sized pieces
1-2 tablespoons good quality olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
I can’t stress this part enough: your kale must be perfectly dry before you begin. Nobody likes soggy chips, especially if they’re green. Put your torn-up DRY kale in a bowl, pour the olive oil on it and toss with you hands. Cut a piece of parchment paper to the correct size for your rimmed cookie sheet (or jelly roll pan). Spread kale evenly over sheet, trying to get it in a single layer. Sprinkle salt/pepper from about 12-18 inches overhead (this helps you salt evenly). Bake at 250F for 30 minutes. Eat while still warm and crispy.
Verdict: While your house will smell like cabbage, your mouth and your waistline will thank you. Crunchy, savory, and my non-veggie eating Little C ate it like it was going out of style. It chips!
