I’m a huge fan of kale. If you follow this blog, you know that I include kale in my recipes, from soups to smoothies, all the time. It’s so very good for you, with all those bone building minerals in particular, that I just can’t help loving it.
So it’s no surprise to see kale here again.
But this recipe is a little different- it’s a kale recipe for those of you who might still be on the fence about eating kale. And it’s for kids, too. I am not promising that every child will like this, but my 10 year old and I fought over who got to finish off this plate of spicy crispy kale with lime…
My first experience with baked kale came when I made Lauren Ulm’s recipe from her book Vegan Yum Yum
for my Foodbuzz 24,24,24 post in December. Lauren’s recipe uses just a touch of sesame oil and very little salt. It was so simple…yet it was also a revelation. Who knew baking kale could result in such “deliciousness”?
Soon I noticed that I was clearly not the only one to succumb to the charms of baked kale. Across the blogosphere, I saw many of my colleagues singing the praises of crispy kale, too:
Jaden’s Crispy Kale
Monica Bhide’s Chaat Masala Kale Chips
Not Derby Pie’s Kale Chips
The Kitchn’s Crispy Kale
Vegan Visitor’s Roasted Kale
So I made more. And lots of it (I’ve now made this baked kale recipe three days in a row). It’s so easy and so good! What I love most is that you can vary this recipe in so many ways. Keep it super plain, or spice it up a little with a seasoned salt, as I’ve done here.
To make the seasoned salt, I mixed 1 teaspoon of course sea salt with a pinch of ground chipotle pepper (I used Spice Islands brand). You won’t use all of this to season the kale (it would be way too salty), so you’ll have a some left over for next time. If you don’t really want your kale to be spicy, but you enjoy a smoky flavor, then you could make your salt with smoked paprika instead.
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Spicy Kale Chips
Ingredients
- *1/2-1 bunch of clean and dry organic kale chopped into bite-sized pieces (remove any tough stems)
- *1-2 Tb. olive oil
- *1-2 large pinches of spicy seasoned course salt- see above
- *juice from 1/2 lime or to taste- optional
Instructions
- 1. Preheat your oven to 325°F.
- 2. Drizzle some oil over the kale and "massage" it into the leaves. The kale I used for this post was an unusually large bunch. I'd say I used half the bunch and 1-2 tablespoons of oil.
- 3. I'd like to point out here that you should go ahead and taste the raw oiled kale. It is actually pretty yummy just like this (at least I think so). Sometimes I make a salad with raw kale that's been oiled and allowed to sit for a few hours. But I'll save that for another post.
- 4. Next, you'll want to spread your oiled kale onto a sheet pan...And then bake in your preheated oven for about 20 minutes. Bake until the edges are just crispy, but the kale is still quite bright green. Do not overcook!
- 5. As soon as you take your kale chips out of the oven, sprinkle with a few pinches of the spicy salt and then squeeze on the optional lime. Enjoy your kale crispies...and remember to share with your children!
