Kale to the King, Baby! Kale Chips Recipe

Some friends of my husband were celebrating the release of their new game, Deadfellas at a gamer-themed tavern up near Nana's house. I had planned on using up the ground beef going bad in the fridge that had been slated for the only thing I know how to make Porcupines, our favorite recipe. And Porcupines gets kind of messy, so I need another adult present to help keep the kids off me. So I graciously gave permission to go, as long as I could cook at Nana's so she could help me watch the girls.
Since I also had a bunch of kale ready to go bad at any moment, I decided to try my hand at making Kale Chips while we were there too.

Kale to the King!

Ingredients:
1 bunch Kale
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp seasoned salt and/or grated parmesan (I used Lowry's Seasoning Salt)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Using a knife, kitchen shears, or tearing by hand; remove leaves from the thick stems. Tear leaves into bite-sized pieces.
Great activity for kids to help with! Older ones can practice with scissors, littler ones can tear!

3. Wash kale and dry thoroughly using a salad spinner.
I did not dry thoroughly. I let it drain for a nanosecond in a colander before sploshing it around onto the baking sheet, dripping excess water everywhere. It turned out just fine.

4. Lay kale on baking sheet. Can have a little overlap, but not too much.

5. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with seasoning.
I think an oil mister would have been a better option. Sadly, mine was broken, so I tried to drizzle the oil using a spoon. It mostly glopped around. So some of my chips were oily and crisp, while others were just crisp. I didn't bother measuring at all, so my first batch was soooooooper salty.

6. Bake 10-15 minutes, until the edges are brown but not burnt.
Mine were good after about 10 minutes.

They were actually quite good. I made two batches. They practically dissolve in your mouth. Very interesting texture. And a very satisfying crunching sound. Like the "scrounch scrounch" noise you would make when pretending to gobble something down.

Z was won over by the salt factor. Big fan. Just like her Mama.

Nana and Hubby tried them, but weren't wrestling them away from the podling. I, however, was eyeballing her plate until she was finished and let me eat the rest. She did a pretty good job of gobbling them down first though!

Note: Also works well with spinach, but you'll want to cook just a little longer. Not so good with cabbage. You can get it chewy, but not crispy... unless you like it tasting burnt. Check out our purple cabbage chips in our blue/purple MTM!

Spinach, purple cabbage, and kale. Forgot to take an 'after' pic

You could probably also skip the oil. The seasoning stuck on just fine to my wet leaves. It did add a little flavor and moisture, and I liked the oiled ones slightly better. But if you're watching your fat and calories, it's something you can skip, as long as the leaves are still wet.