Kale is one of those super-foods you should definitely be eating. It's a great source of calcium, vitamin A, vitamin K, vitamin C, protein, folate, and just about everything else. It's also a very fibrous vegetable and holds up better to heat than spinach, which seems to wilt the second it hits the pan. In an effort to eat more vegetables, particularly green vegetables, I decided to try making kale chips. I'd been hearing a lot about them and had seen recipes all over the web, so I finally picked up some kale this week and made a batch of chips. This was the first time I'd baked a leafy green vegetable as well as the first time I'd eaten kale. The verdict. . . .it could have been better, but it definitely could have been worse. You can find the recipe I used here.
Part of the problem was me not reading the recipe correctly, while the other problem, I think, is that kale chips are just not that good. First, I read the recipe as calling for a tablespoon of seasoned salt, which I used, but it actually only called for a teaspoon. My bad. Second, the recipe said to bake them for 10-15 minutes. I took them out at 10 minutes and they were still kind of mushy with a little bit of crispiness on the edges so I put them back in for another five minutes. They came out much crispier, albeit a little salty. Even after they were crispy to the touch though, the chips still had a chewy kale-ness to them once in my mouth. They were edible, however, so I put them in a container and will eat the rest. I wouldn't necessarily suggest making them unless you just want to get experimental in the kitchen. My next attempts at kale will definitely be in soup or smoothie form. In fact, the best thing to come out of this whole kale chip business is that the chickens will be munching on the kale scraps that didn't become chips.
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| Homemade kale chips. . .meh. . . |
Part of the problem was me not reading the recipe correctly, while the other problem, I think, is that kale chips are just not that good. First, I read the recipe as calling for a tablespoon of seasoned salt, which I used, but it actually only called for a teaspoon. My bad. Second, the recipe said to bake them for 10-15 minutes. I took them out at 10 minutes and they were still kind of mushy with a little bit of crispiness on the edges so I put them back in for another five minutes. They came out much crispier, albeit a little salty. Even after they were crispy to the touch though, the chips still had a chewy kale-ness to them once in my mouth. They were edible, however, so I put them in a container and will eat the rest. I wouldn't necessarily suggest making them unless you just want to get experimental in the kitchen. My next attempts at kale will definitely be in soup or smoothie form. In fact, the best thing to come out of this whole kale chip business is that the chickens will be munching on the kale scraps that didn't become chips.
Update: These chips went right back to being mushy the next day. I would not recommend making them, at least not from this recipe.
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