Kale Chips

We really detest having to eat kale in my household but we know that we should eat it for our health and so I had to come up with an appealing way to eat this wonderful veggie (sauteing/steaming/roasting it was just not cutting it).  After 2 inedible/failed batches of trying to bake kale chips in our conventional oven last year (following a recipe...I blame the oven), I gave up.  Until...

I noticed that someone had made these with a dehydrator!!!  Bingo!!!  Seriously, give these a try.  It took a while to warm up to their flavor/texture and to get my technique right (about 3 batches), but they are SO worth it and I always feel better after eating them.

Finished kale chips

Kale Chips

Ingredients

1 bunch kale
~1/8 cup olive oil
seasoning (i.e. salt, pepper,onion powder, garlic powder, etc.)

Directions

De-stem the kale leaves and rip into potato chip-sized pieces as you go.  Wash and dry in a salad spinner.

Place the kale in a large mixing bowl, drizzle the oil and mix thoroughly with your hands.  Use enough oil so that the kale leaves are evenly covered with oil, but not dripping.

Add your desired seasoning and continue to mix well, until evenly coated with oil and seasoning.

Arrange in a single layer on your dehydrator trays and dehydrate at about 145°F for 2 - 3 hours, depending on the size and quality of the kale.

Enjoy with wreckless abandon!!

After dehydration

Before dehydration

Notes

When mixing the kale, I use a massaging/kneading motion to really get the oil evenly coated all over the kale leaves (even the curly bits).  It has been my experience that the key to good kale chips is the proper amount and coating of the oil so I cannot stress the importance of this step enough.  Be patient and mix for a long time to ensure evenly coating each leaf.

There are plenty of seasoning suggestions out there on the web.  Parmesan cheese if you're not eating paleo.  Coconut sugar and then painting with chocolate for a sweet treat (sounds like a lot of work to me...).  Cayenne pepper for an added kick...etc.

You can still follow this recipe if you do not have a dehydrator.  Plenty of sources out there suggest doing the same procedure for using a conventional oven.  If you want to try that method:

• heat your oven to 350°F, 
• line a baking sheet with parchment paper, 
• arrange small batches of kale on the lined baking sheet and bake for 10 - 12 minutes, or until the leaf tips just start to turn brown
• and withhold the seasoning until after the kale has been baked.

To de-stem kale/spinach or any other hardy-stemmed, leafy green:

1. Grasp the leaf by the stem with your right hand, with the spine of the leaf towards your palm.
2. With your left hand, gently grab the leaf "flesh" and tear in a downward motion so that you separate the leaf from the stem.

I tried to get some photos of how to do this off the internet, but apparently folks use a knife!!  Forget that!  The fewer dishes I have to wash later the better.  I will have to take some photos of doing this myself and add them later...

This is how I do it:

After giving this recipe a try, Jer (I know, unbelievable!) and I can't get enough of these.  I have been making a batch of them about every other day for the past couple of weeks and I still can't keep up!  Seriously enjoy the boost of energy and general feeling of well-being you get from scarfing large quantities of these awesome snacks!!