Lately I have been obsessed with kale. I saw it prepared once on The Chew and decided to try to duplicate the recipe at home. Unfortunately, my plan was ruined when I couldn’t figure out which was the kale at the supermarket. All the greens look really similar and they are all bunched up together. Pathmark’s labeling system left a lot to be desired, so I just chose one and went to check out. Fortunately, the cashier asked what I was buying and when I said “kale” she said, and I quote “This ain’t no kale”. So there went that idea.
Fast forward a few months and my sister starts making kale chips – turns out they are a big thing these days. I finally decided to try it on my own and here’s how it went.
First of all, I went to A&P this time and it turns out they have their greens labeled on their rubber bands which meant I was definitely buying kale! I felt so accomplished! I took that huge batch of kale home, took off the stems, washed the leaves, dried them by squishing them in between a few papers towels (twice and will be reused to clean up pet messes later), and ripped them into pieces (not too small since they will shrink during baking).
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Next I drizzled some extra virgin olive oil, regular salt and pepper on them. I sprinkled Adobo on a few pieces to see how they would taste as well. I have a heavy hand, so I’m sure I used way more of everything than a normal person would or should! I threw them in the oven for about 18 minutes at 325 degrees. This is how they ended up turning out. The whole tray was full at the beginning so you can see how much they shrink during cooking. Keep an eye on them after the 15 minute mark because they can go from crispy to torched in a very short amount of time.
I definitely learned to lighten up on the salt. My chips were very tasty but also very salty. Adobo gave them a little extra kick which was nice.
Another tip: after I wrote this post I wanted more chips another day, but not as many, so I cooked them in the toaster oven. I put aluminum foil on the tray for easy clean up. The chips came out really well. For the summer especially this would be a great way to cook up some chips without heating your whole kitchen!
PS….even the dogs love kale!
Aimee Knows 