Monday, December 20, 2010

Kale Chips

I first heard about kale chips in an interview with Kristen Bell in a women's health and wellness magazine.  Turns out Kristen is a follower of my favorite nutritionist blogger, Kimberly Snyder.  I have since made these for tons of friends and family, even those that are skeptical of my "weird" eating habits, and these are universal crowd pleasers.


What are the benefits of kale?
Kale is great for cleansing and detoxifying your system, and is a rich source of vitamins A (antioxidant, vision), vitamin C (antioxidant, immunity booster, detox agent) and Lutein (eye health). Crunchy kale chips are a great way to introduce yourself to this nutrient packed superfood. 


Recipe 1: Plain Kale Chips 

Pre-heat your oven to 350F degrees.
Take a bunch of dinour/tuscan kale and remove the very tips of the stems. Rinse. Then either use a salad spinner or a clean kitchen towel and dry the leaves thoroughly.
Place the well dried kale leaves into a mixing bowl. Pour olive oil over the leaves and massage to coat well. Then take the leaves and place them together on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the leaves with a generous amount of course sea salt and place them into the oven. 
Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes until the leaves are crunchy and flake when bent.  Soggy kale chips are NOT good. :)

Recipe 2: "Cheesy" Kale Chips
Same as above, but add a couple of tablespoons of nutritional yeast to the bowl as you massage the olive oil into the kale leaves.