I'll readily admit that I am generally not a fan of kale. I don't like it in my soup, especially.
Zuppa Toscana and Olive Garden? Please, no.
It's not the flavor of kale that I don't find pleasant... it's the... way it holds it's form and something about the texture of the 'curly' ends.
I much prefer my spinach. I love my spinach. Raw. Cooked. Sauted. In soup. As a salad. It doesn't matter.
I keep hearing and seeing things about kale chips. Supposedly you could do the same thing with spinach. Perfect! Well... not so perfect. Unfortunately, when I tried 'spinach chips' a few months back... it didn't fair too well. As we all know, spinach is good at wilting under heat. And while it tasted good, it was not something that you could readily snack on. It just... flakes into nothingness. Sad Face.
Over the holidays my mom showed up at my house with some sea weed chips. Interesting.
She didn't seem to dislike them but tended to make a strange face with each bite she took, all the while asking me to try one. I think she was secretly trying to like the sea weed chips. After all, they were only 60-something calories for a whole package!
Anyway, I told her 'no' more than once. But, that did get me to thinking back on the notion of kale chips.
I've got nothing to lose. I could always pawn them off on my mom if I couldn't handle them. I mean... she did eat sea weed. Kale can't be worse than that! Surely.
Oh, perfect and wondrous kale chips! Where have you been all my life?!
I nearly ate the entire plateful... That's half a bunch of kale! And only 205 calories!
These greens bake up perfectly into light and crisp chips of amazingness. And seriously? They are so easy to make. Spray, season, bake, enjoy. Plus, they stay crispy through the day. I was a little surprised by that. For some reason I thought that they would begin to get soggy after sitting, but nope! Hours later they are still deliciously crisp and snackable.
Crispy Kale Chips
TheSkinnyFork.com
The Skinny:
Servings: 1 • Size: About 2 Cups • Calories: 205.6 • Fat: 3 g • Carb: 35.6 g • Fiber: 10.4 g • Protein: 12.9 g • Sugar: 6.5 g • Sodium: 2670.1 mg
Ingredients:
1/2 Bunch Fresh Kale (About 4 Cups)
1 Tsp. Olive Oil or Olive Oil Cooking Spray
1 Tbsp. Parmesan Cheese, Grated
1 Tsp. Sea Salt
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and line a baking sheet with foil.
Remove the leaves of the kale from the thick stems and tare the leaves into bite sized pieces.
Rinse the dry kale.
Spread the leaves out over the prepared baking sheet in as much of a single layer as you can.
Give the kale a toss with olive oil or lightly mist with non-stick olive oil spray.
Season with parmesan and salt.
Place in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the leaves are crisp.
You can toss them about halfway through but I didn't really find that it was needed.
Remove from the oven once done and allow to cool slightly before enjoying!
