Kale is probably one of those things you rarely or never eat. Well, it’s packed with vitamin A and calcium, with a little bit of vitamin B and C and very, very tasty. I’m still discovering ways to eat it besides throwing it in soup or something boring like that. My favorite way so far is to bake it till it’s crunchy. So if you love potato chips and are trying to quit cause they’ll make us fat, reach for some baked kale instead!
By the way, according to my price chart, Harris Teeter and Wal-Mart have the cheapest kale over Bi-Lo and Food Lion. Watch for sales though.
So first, rinse off the kale and pull the leaves off of the stalk. Trash the stalk or use for another dish- it doesn’t bake well. Tear the leaves up into smaller pieces- ya’ know, a few inches in diameter or so.
Then, in a bowl or right on the pan, drizzle some olive oil over the leaves. Then add your favorite spices- I added garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper and chili powder. Now, listen, add a little salt… but I really mean a tiny amount. Are you listening? DON’T over-salt them like I did! Ok, now get your hands all up in there and make sure everything’s evenly distributed, making sure too many spices aren’t built up in any spots.
Put them in a 325* oven for about 5-7 minutes, more or less. Ok the biggest rule is this: you can’t really leave these alone. They burn really quickly if you’re not careful, and when they burn they taste nasty. BUT, they also can’t be soggy. So it’s a fine line and you’ve gotta watch it. Every minute or so, open the door and touch them to see if they’re crunchy yet. Trust me, you’d rather eat them not quite done enough rather than over-done. Do what I SHOULD have done, and bake a few leaves first to get an idea about time, then cook the rest.
Sorry if I scared you there. But you’ll hate it and never try it again if you burn them! Oh man, they’re soooo good when they’re cooked perfectly! I will be working on some other methods to cook them more evenly….perhaps cooking them at a very low heat for longer would do the trick. Let me know if you try it and find a good method!
2 large servings – $.22
1 serving – $.11
It’s very straightforward to find out any matter
on net as compared to textbooks, as I found this paragraph at this site.
Finally made these! Very good – I only used the last bit of a bunch, less than 1/4 lb, and I baked them for about 10 minutes at 310 (just trying a random lower temperature). I undersalted them at first, but could always add salt in that case! My 4-year-old and I just ate them up at the end of our lunch! I was happy she liked them too!
I've been regularly baking kale for a few months now and love it. Does anyone know if there's much of a difference between steamed kale and baked? I'm curious if baking takes away from the nutrition value. Nevertheless, it tastes great.
I want to know if the nutritional value is changed by baking kale also?
Elie, here’s the nutritional value for raw kale: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2461/2 and then the nutritional value for cooked kale: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2462/2. Hopefully that’ll tell you what you need to know. Obviously raw is always more nutritious so if you like it raw, eat it raw. But I look at it all relatively. Baked kale with olive oil is more nutritious than potato chips deep fried in Lord knows what. 🙂
Just had these…delicioso! Baked them at 325 for about 6 mins. them a few more mins at 350…deliciously crunchy!
Dehydrate ! Use some cashew sauce ! yum.
That's interesting. I'm going to have to try this. I found your website after one of my facebook friends mentioned your blog and how much they enjoy it. Thanks!
I make them today…soooo good.Lenka,how long did you bake them?I did for almost 8 min and wasnt sure if I should them min or two longer.Thanks a lot for great tip.Lucka
Ande I tried with Anna today and we love it. Thank you for great tip. Kale is one of the healtiest veggie othere, so great. And you righ HT is much more cheaper then Bi-lo. Thanks
Lenka