Kale Chips

Ahhhh, I know you're relieved.

I'm bringing you some super trendy food for this cold weather: total fake-out snack food that has very few calories but is crunchy so you can eat a ton of it and feel as satisfied as if you'd eaten a whole bag of chips, right?

Well.....

Maybe not quite.

But these are REALLY delicious in their own right, and insanely simple.

Have you had kale chips?  Making them at home was my first time.  They were good!  Totally crunchy, but in a way that kind of fell apart in your mouth...different than an oily chip, in a good way.

Not that there's anything wrong with an oily chip, calm down....this is just different.

The browned edges were totally great, and from start to finish these took under 30 minutes including WASHING the kale!

Here's what you need!

• kale
• salt
• cooking spray

Total duh ingredients.  We used on medium bunch of kale (½ lb), and it made enough for a snack for both of us - you could definitely make more for a big group, though!

I used cooking spray, but I've seen methods that use olive oil, too.  I like the cooking spray method because it ensures that everything is really evenly coated but not too goopy, so the chips are nice and light and evenly toasty.

Clearly if you're wealthy you could use olive oil spray too, instead of the super cheap chemically-laden buttery flavored stuff I use.

It's good, people.  Don't judge.

Let's get started!  Preheat the oven to 425F.

So, you grab your kale, wash it really well.

Then, use a claw-finger grip to separate the stem from the leaves - just strip it right down the middle.  You can save the stems to make stock!  You can also use a knife if you aren't weird like me.

Pat the leaves dry with a clean dish towel (don't skip this step!) and tear any large ones so that the leaves are all close to the same size - this won't be perfect, but having some huge leaves the size of your face and other teeny bits won't to  you any favors in the "even cooking" department.

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and make one even layer of kale pieces.  If they overlap some it's OK, they'll shrink up a little bit while they cook - just don't have any stacked directly on top of each other.  I did my small bunch of kale in two batches.

Spray the tops of the leaves with more cooking spray and sprinkle them lightly with salt.

Then, bake the kale for 10 - 15 minutes until dry and the edges start to turn brown.

Serve these as a snack, side at dinner, salad replacement, or for breakfast....they're delicious, crunchy, salty, and HEALTHY.  What's not to like?

Enjoy these!