Holy Kale Chip Deliciousness

Behold! I give you Kale Chips!! These things are so crazy. First and foremost, they are ridiculously cheap. Give them a gold star for that. I just bought a big, and I mean BIG bunch of curly Kale for 57 cents. Not even kidding. Actually, it was way more than the picture shows. The whole bunch completely carpeted my baking sheet for 57 CENTS!! If you add in the cost of some olive oil and salt, you still get the equivalent of a big bag chips for like 75 cents. AMAZING!

Second amazing point about these guys....Kale is crazy healthy. Its one of those crazy dark leafy greens that are just disgustingly healthy for you. Kale is super low calorie (33 cal for a cup of it), contains 2 g protein, a gram of fiber and no sugar, cholesterol or fat. It is also strongly anti-inflammatory, has 206% of vitamin A, 134% vitamin C, 9% calcium, 6% iron, 684% vitamin K (684! holy crap!) and a smattering of other vitamins and minerals. So, you don't get much healthier than kale. In addition, the recipe uses olive oil, which has healthy mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids. So give kale chips another gold star for health factor.

Third, and this will be shocking, Kale chips are crazy delicious and satisfying. If you suffer from the occasional salty/crispy craving like I do, these do the job. They have a very light airy crisp to them, not soggy or chewy. And the light salting goes a long way. In addition, you can get creative and flavor them with your favorite potato chip flavors. Garlic is good, onion is good. Be creative! So give kale chips a third gold star.

What it comes down to, is that you should make these right now. They're amazing. You'll be shocked by how fast they disappear.

 

3/3 Star Baked Kale Chips

Adapted from smitten kitchen

1 bunch  kale (I used some curly looking Kale, I guess it comes in different varieties - not by me!)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Sea salt, to taste (I find a little goes a long way)

Preheat oven to 300°F. Rinse and dry the kale, then remove the stems and tough center ribs. I just kind of ripped and tore them, so they were already in pretty good bite sized pieces when I was done getting rid of the tough bits. Toss with olive oil in a bowl then sprinkle with salt. Arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, or until crisp. Place baking sheet on a rack to cool. Don't cover these with seran wrap! I just store them in a bowl uncovered on the counter. They seem fine. And this makes for easy snacking :-)