So the Kale Chip bandwagon rolled by I thought why not jump on it and see what this rides all about? Apart from how photogenic kale and kale chips are, it is an immensely healthy vegetable chock-a-block full of antioxidant properties, vitamins K,A,C and manganese (just to name a few).
I was so excited to finally make these! However they received mixed reviews after coming out of the oven. Kale chips have an interesting taste and texture; many bloggers describe them tasting ”just like potato chips!”. This is absurd and absolutely not true.
Consistency wise these were awesome, very light and flaky in your mouth and you don’t feel heavy after eating them. Though Kale absorbs the flavours you season it with, it does retain somewhat of a nutty earthy flavour, like raw broccoli. Even though I wasn’t %100 sold on them, they were like Lays Chips – I couldn’t eat just one.
Phil said he would try them again, but it was like eating “spicy potpourri”. Emilie liked them ( I think, it’s so hard to tell when she’s lying, ha!) but she made a good point that Kale “isn’t a particularly delicious vegetable” on its own. The seasoning was a unanimous success, and I will use it again for Pita chips and yam fries, but no one was ecstatic about the kale.
I made my first batch with just olive oil, sea salt, vinegar, and pepper. They smelt amazing but flavour was a bit blah. I decided to kick it up a few notches with the recipe below, since everyone in our house likes food with a little spice.
Even after making the second batch something didn’t meet my expectations. Perhaps I’m being too harsh because my expectations were too high. Perhaps I just don’t like baked kale! I’d never baked it before, so I didn’t know what to expect.
Since I can’t pin point exactly what I didn’t like about these chips, I’ll have to make them again at a later date just to be fair.
Sea Salt and Vinegar ingredients
Garlic and Parmesan Kale Chips
1 bunch of Kale
1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
Sea Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese to garnish
Directions:
Garlic Parmesan Seasoning Ingredients
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Wash kale and thoroughly dry. Separate kale leaves from the stem, then using a bowl or seasoning bag toss kale leaves in olive oil, garlic, and Frank’s. 2 tbsp wasn’t enough to make them spicy, but the flavours were nice.
On an oven tray evenly distribute kale leafy side up. Bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and season to taste with parmesan cheese ( I also sprinkled some paprika).
Return to oven and cook for 2 more minutes.
NOTE: Burnt kale tasted very bitter, so keep a watchful eye on your chips!!!
Beautiful. Don’t they look amazing? I’m so disappointed I didn’t fall head over heals for them… sigh.
