kaaaaale

i always forget about kale. at katherine's dinner on saturday she had made a kale salad, and it inspired me to buy a bunch. i've been chopping it up and adding it to mixed greens, because it's got so much good stuff in it. if you chop it up small it's not too tough to eat raw.

if salad's not your thing, try kale chips. this batch turned out amazing, until i made the grave mistake of sealing them in a plastic bag. they went chewy and soggy. moral of the story: make them, then eat them. don't try to store them.

here is how you do it. wash and de-stem. make sure it's pretty dry, you don't want water on there steaming it while it's cooking and preventing crispy deliciousness.



break up into little bits, and coat with a verrrrry thin coat of olive oil. natalie told me that she uses her hands, and this worked really well because you can kind of just dip your finger tips in it and rub it in so it's all covered but really thin. i used to drizzle it on and then toss it, but this is easier and more effective. thanks nat!

add some spice. i added salt, pepper, chili powder and cayenne pepper. just sprinkle that stuff on (you could use anything, curry, paprika, whatever) and toss the leaves a bit. throw it all in the oven at 350.



here is the tricky part. after 9 or 10 minutes, take out the tray, and take off any that seem crispy. leave the ones that are yet to be perfectly toasted. put it back in. do it again in about a minute. repeat until they're all done. this way you won't have a soggy kale chip rubbing elbows with a perfectly cooked one, bringing it down and cramping it's style.



feel smug about your healthy and delicious snack. do not attempt to imagine that it's actual chips, you will be disappointed. here is footage of the time i attempted to pass off some kale chips as regular chips on kevin sorbo: