You all know about kale chips don’t you? Kale in a form that kids will eat? That the pickiest eaters ask for as a snack? In cafes they usually deep fry it, and I find it a bit greasy like that. I like it better roasted till crisp with just a little oil and salt. Online recipes often recommend a whole range of seasonings, but I reckon it’s just as good with plain old salt. Kale is in season, and this is a super fast and easy way to deal with a lot of it. It works with curly kale or dinosaur kale (Cavallo Nero) or even with thin stemmed broccolini like this.
It goes down quite a lot, so pick a big bunch. It needs to be dry, so either don’t wash it, or if you have to wash it make sure it is completely dry before baking. Turn your oven on to a medium low baking temperature – 150°C or so. Strip the kale off its stems, just by pulling it through your hand, and put it in a baking tray. You don’t strictly need to have a single layer, but use a second tray if you can so as not to crowd it too much.
Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with oil. I use olive oil but it doesn’t matter what kind for this. Use your hands to massage the oil through the leaves so that they are all coated. Roast for ten minutes or so, then use tongs to toss the kale, and roast for another five minutes or so till it is all crisp or nearly so – it will crispen up a bit more as it cools. If you only used one pan, you might have to toss a couple of times. You will need to watch it to make sure it doesn’t burn – it’s quite quick. You want it khaki green, not brown.
It’s moreish. Put a second batch on, because even the people who said they didn’t want any will end up demolishing a bowl.
Love my kale chips, so more-ish. Re your note about interaction, I read all your posts, although I haven’t checked you out on Facebook etc; yet, however I don’t tend to post comments frequently. I especially like having a look through all your older recipes.
Hi Yvonne, thank you for this. There was a while there where the backend IT issues were stretching my inner geek till it hurt, and I almost gave up on reviving Witches Kitchen. But I often refer to my old recipes too, and my old planting diary.
Hi Linda, I haven’t tried kale chips but must give it a go. I have only two plants growing at the moment & the chooks love the leaves. Do you have a preferred variety for chips?
I enjoy reading your newsletters & links but am a bit quiet with comments.
I also live on Gumbaynggirr land a few hundred metres south of the Clarence River. Your book, The Permaculture Home Garden, has been on my shelf since it was first published & I still refer to it.
Hi Lyn, good to meet another Gumbaynggirr country resident! I’m glad Permaculture Home Garden still works. There’s not much I’d take back if I were writing it again, and it always astonishes me that it is still in print after all these years. I like the dino kale (Cavallo Nero) best for chips, but the curly kale works fine too. The chooks get outside leaves occasionally but not too often – the humans mostly beat them to it.