I’ve wanted to try making kale crisps for a while as they’ve intrigued me. When a large bunch of kale popped into my weekly delivered veg box, it was time to try them.
I think for a lot of people kale crisps don’t sound particularly appetising. And the first taste is a little odd, but… then I couldn’t stop eating them! Hubby was rather dubious, but… then he couldn’t stop eating them! And Nicholas tucked into them too!
Such a brilliant way to get some more green veg into your and your little ones’ diets, and kale is considered to be one of the healthiest vegetables around. Kale crisps are also super easy to make.
Some recipes suggest putting the torn up leaves into a bag with the olive oil and salt, and either shaking or massaging to cover the leaves. I tried this the first time I made them, but found the salt didn’t spread very well meaning I ended up with some VERY salty crisps and some without any salt. If you’re not using salt at all, the bag method works well to limit the amount of oil, but otherwise I would just drizzle the oil and sprinkle over the salt once the kale is on the oven trays. Be careful about adding too much salt as they can very easily become too salty (you can always add more salt after they’ve cooked).
KALE CRISPS
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 5-10 mins
1 bunch of kale, washed and patted dry
Approx. 1 tbsp olive oil
Salt (optional)
Preheat your oven to 170C and line two oven trays with baking paper.
Tear the leaves off the thick stalks and chop or tear into pieces about 5-7cm in size.
Spread the torn leaves in a single layer over the oven trays.
Lightly drizzle the leaves with olive oil and very lightly sprinkle with salt (if using).
Bake for 5-10 minutes, keeping a close eye on them, until the edges have just started to go brown.
Variations:
- for kale crisps with a kick, sprinkle with chili powder before baking;
- for zesty crisps, as soon as you take the crisps from the oven, grated over some lemon zest;
- for cheesy crisps, sprinkle over some grated parmesan before baking;
- sprinkle over some sesame seeds after baking.
Tip: if your kale browns too quickly, try baking them at 150C for 20-25 minutes.
thegingerbreadmum 