Baked Kale Crisps

In my quest to fortify my low iron stores, I've found myself loitering in the veggie aisle in the supermarket checking out all the green stuff on offer (tender stem broccoli, purple sprouting broccoli, cavelo nero, spinach etc). Although I can't say I've been totally inspired but the thought of cooking and eating so much green stuff, I've still been buying bits of it and feeding it to the fam. I've been adding handfuls of baby spinach to anything I'm cooking that has a bit of sauce to accommodate a leafy addition (eg meatballs in a home made tomato sauce with a big handful of added spinach). And today I baked up some kale crisps. Eating green leafy stuff as an appetising mid morning snack is kind of weird but wonderful you know.

The supermarkets sell bags of ready prepared kale that's been shredded and most of the tough stalky bits removed already. I would normally buy a bag of this to feed to Pip and Lola (our guinea pigs adore kale), but today it was mine, all mine.

Kale crisps are very easy to make. The trick to making your kale lovely and crispy (as opposed to shrivelled and limp) is in the open arrangement of it on a baking tray, and a longer cooking at a lower temperature than most online recipes tell you.

The only other ingredients you need are a drizzle of olive oil and a generous seasoning of sea salt.

Pop your kale into a bowl, drizzle with a little olive oil (about half a tablespoon is all), add a liberal sprinkling of salt, then get in there with your hands. You need to massage those green leaves until they are completely coated with oil and looking all shiny.

Tip your oiled up kale onto a baking sheet or large oven tray and make sure it's spread out in a single layer with a bit of breathing space. Use two trays if necessary. It must be spread out thinly or else it will steam cook and lead to limp disappointment.

Now bake at a fairly low temperature {300 F / 150 C} for 20-25 minutes. You will begin to smell it cooking, keep an eye on it in the last five minutes or so as you really don't want it to burn. Burnt kale is destined for the bin, let me tell you, it is horrid. You need to take it out when it feels crisp and brittle and is very lightly browned around the edges - leave it on the tray for a further few mins to cool and crisp up some more.....

....then tip it into a bowl and tuck in.

If you've ever eaten crispy seaweed in a Chinese restaurant, this is very, very similar. It's really rather yummy, and incredibly moreish.

You will not want to share. You will resent anyone coming anywhere close, you will guard your bowl of crispy kale and fight off intruders with surprising force. You will have your mouth completely full of kale and you will think to yourself that you really ought to feed this to the children as it's such a healthy snack and so much better for them than a packet of normal crisps.....

......but suddenly the bowl is empty. Oh. Oh! Did I really just eat 200g of kale? All by myself? In one sitting? Cripes. Well it's medicinal and all that, my body obviously needed it. Can feel it doing me good already.

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ps top tip - if you've eaten kale crisps, do check your teeth in the mirror before you head out the front door and into public. Yeah, that.

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Ally]

Ok I aw a bag of Kale reduced in Tesco and I remembered your blog post. I thought och well for 20p I'll give it a go! I fully expected to hate it and thought it was another of these weird healthy kick things!! OH WOW how wrong and judgmental was I. YUM - so good im off to make more!

[Moni aka Minkamo]

Hi Lucy, I went and got some fres kale from the market and tried immediately. I must say, I didn't expect much, BUT to my surprise they are SOOOOOO yummy. Even my husband -who is really not in trying something new- ate half of my portion. I told my mum and she also ate a good lot. So I am making a second load within 2 hours. However, I omit the salt in the second lot, as for me it was too salty (and I wasn't very generous with the salt).
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! Kale crisps are fantastic!
... and I wish you a soon recovery and lots of good energie.
Moni xox

[Samantha]

Hi there, we just tried this recip with cavalo Nero and it was delicious!
After telling my other half where the recipe came from he said to ask if you drink lots of tea as this can block the absorption of vitamin D, instead you drink orange juice!
Hope this helps in your recovery!
Sam x

[Terra]

We grow kale in our garden and I wrote down your recipe, it sounds delicious.

[Clare]

😂 funny! Must try that recipe - we all went out for a Chinese this weekend and demolished the seaweed. Here's hoping we can reek (sp?) similar havoc on seasonal greens!! Thanks!

[Katharina]

Hi Lucy,

strawberries/red fruits are high in iron as well (found that out during my pregnancy) - try frozen strawberries mixed with greek yoghurt if you're tired of greens (as good as they sound).

Cheers,
Katharina

[Charlotte]

Purchased kale chips at a store today to see if I could eat them.. I like kale steamed but haven't tried kale chips. I'll let you know.

[Estella]

Hello Lucy, I never tried kale chips but sound tempting and delicious. I cook my food in iron skillets. Yeah, those heavy things but my food cooks evenly and I know I'm getting iron into my food. I owned Teflon coated ones a long time ago before it was known how bad that stuff is so I threw all that stuff out including any thing plastic and now have a variety of sizes of those iron pans. I learned to cook with them so I don't have the problem of food sticking to them which is a complaint of a lot of people. I have some kale in the fridge right now so I'm going to try some today. Hope your are feeling better.

[all8]

Our favorite way to eat kale is Spicy Kale Lasagna. Yummy! http://www.annies-eats.com/2011/03/01/spicy-kale-lasagna/ We made it more saucy but my DS had 5 helpings the first time. He loves it. I keep meaning to try kale chips, guess we'll just have to get on that. Oh, roasted broccoli is awfully tasty. Florets drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and roasted 425*F until browned on the edges.

Another food that has lots of iron are cooked cereals, here in the US the name brand is Malt o' Meal (favorite) but so does Cream of Wheat. Good luck! I've had anemia too, it stinks, tremendously.

[Sarah]

Mmmm! I love Kale crisps, we add a rather liberal amount of red chilli flakes to it too :D I adapted this recipe to add 300g - 500g of baby spinach in an attempt to get more greens into the teen - http://www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/easy-roasted-garlic-alfredo-tortellini/ at the point you add the cream (yes it is a heavy cream based sauce but hey we can't have everything can we :D) just dump the spinach in, uncooked, and blend. It's lovely with a little bit of roast chicken thrown in at the end too!

[Carine07]

Just be careful not to drink tea one hour before/after your snack as iron will not be assimilated by your body. To help the assimilation, you could also take some vitamin C (kiwis, oranges, etc.).

[Toni]

I bought a bag of kale so I can try this. I've loved other recipes you've posted, esp. your bread! Sadly, I am not eating wheat anymore :(

[Jill]

Yum yum and lol at the teeth bit :D

[Winwick Mum]

You've eaten 200g of kale without even blinking? That's impressive! You deserve to have your iron levels go up a notch for that! :-) xx

[Dawn]

Hi Lucy,
Always a pleasure to read your posts and your kale chips sound way more successful than mine! I will try again. Do hope you will soon feel better....just a thought, are you being checked for coeliac disease? I have three coeliacs in the family and anaemia is one of the first signs,. If iron is then prescribed and iron levels don't increase to normal levels, then the problem is one of absorption which is an indicator of coeliac disease. Doctors don't always think of it so diagnosis can be unnecessarily slow. Good luck and thank you as always for your wonderful blog - it is always a treat to read!

[Nayu]

I recommend trying green smoothies as a tasty way to get more greensinto your diet. Start with the fruit based ones then you can tailor them to your personal taste. There are so many recipes online!

[Elizabeth]

Kale chips... the best salt and oil delivery system ever.

[Angela-Southern USA]

Yum! Kale chips, for sure get your own bowl! lol For those that don't like kale or to sneak into other foods without the family being the wiser, dehydrated kale is the way to go, just crush it into powder and sprinkle as much or little as you like and add it to almost everything, even popcorn. I grow and dehydrate my own and store it in an air tight container, then crush when ready to use. May you feel your chipper self soon.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Cheryl]

I love kale chips! It's hard to share and not eat the whole batch myself. It's funny cuz it's the only way I really like kale. Every other way I've cooked it doesn't come anywhere close to how yummy it is as chips.

[josiekitten]

I love kale but haven't tried this before. Your little tip made me smile! Been there, done that!

[Busir]

I wish you' suggest something with you're january winter palette .right now îm finishing my fifth pair of socks ,one more to go .In France I've four grand daugters .y.s

[Kari W.]

I love kale chips. When I make them I put a cooling rack on a cookie sheet and then put the oiled kale pieces on the rack. I find I'm much less likely to burn them because the kale is not directly on the hot sheet and the air can circulate around the kale pieces. My husband will not eat kale unless it is the form of chips. Oh yes, good advice to check the mirror before going out.

[Josie Arter]

I too have an anemia and vit D problem, I've also had a heart pacemaker fitted last November and loathe taking iron tablets. The idea of the kale crisps is great, it is one of my favourite veggies,
also I have been eating a lot of pumpkin seeds and the occasional black pudding (apologies if you are a vegetarian).

[Charlotte]

My daughter has a dehydrator and makes kale chips with with different flavors. It is the only way she can get her daughter to eat vegetables and it is very good for you. Glad to see you are making progress.

[Linda from Boston]

Have some dried plums (prunes). Good fiber too.