Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Cheap Eats: Kale Chips!

The Topic: Replacing the Beloved Potato

The Dish: Lately, my savory-snacking side has trumped the usual gravitation towards sweets, sending me to the likes of my ultimate weakness, Salt & Pepper Baked Kettle Chips (a bag can be considered dinner, right?). Holy crap, those things are good. But, much like vegan cupcakes, they're neither a huge nutritional hero or very budget-friendly. The simple, tasty, two-syllable answer? Kale chips.

I don't know when I first tried a kale chip, but I know kale itself was completely foreign to me before going veg. And now, it's true love for the leafy green in all its forms. These crispy, healthier-than-potato chips are really making themselves known, from VegWeb recipes to retail launches. The VN crew saw a few varieties at Expo West (one of which may have made our
list of Best of Show winners), and I loved them. However, the price for prepackaged is definitely steeper than flat-out buying a bunch or two of kale, which is almost all it takes to make your very own at home.

This crunchy, savory, satisfying recipe hails straight from VegWeb, and it just took top honors in the VegWeb Recipe Showdown, winning as the Amazing Appetizer (pick up the
May+June issue of VegNews for the rest of the winners!).


Kale Chips
by yesterdaygirl

Serves 4

What You Need:
2 large bunches kale, washed and destemmed
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon oil
Coarse salt, to taste, or seasoning blend

What You Do:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop or tear kale into chip-size pieces. In a medium bowl, combine kale, apple cider vinegar, oil, and salt or seasoning. Mix to coat.

2. Onto a baking sheet, spread kale and bake for 10 minutes or until crispy. Serve immediately.

The Final Word: My advice? Take the serving size with a grain of salt. Personally, I could take down one—if not both—bunches of kale in one sitting. Again, that's dinner, right? The recipe is too simple not to make, and too freakin' tasty not to become a potato-replacing staple.

9 comments:

  1. Mix in a little nutritional yeast and cayenne, even BETTER! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. MMM I love kale chips. Especially if you add a little balsamic vinegar and pepper. They taste like salt and vinegar chips, but a little sweet (:

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've gotta try this. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love kale chips! I don't even use vinegar or seasoning. I just put the kale on a cookie sheet and spray it with some oil and bake. So good!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I can't wait to run to Trader Joe's to buy Kale and make these chips.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have made these and used my dehydrator. Yummo!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. We planted kale from seed amidst our flowers last year. The stuff kept growing well into central Illinois' November weather. This spring they reseeded themselves. It grows like a weed!! We have kale chips galore!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I made these last night. My fiance and I love them!! Now I know what to do with my leftover kale. They will definitely be a new staple in our kitchen. :)

    ReplyDelete