Kale Chips? Really...?

Admittedly Kale is not high on the list of vegetables that I love. Indeed, sometimes it barely makes the list. As this nutrient dense vegetable is so completely good for me, I decided to set myself on a mission to find a way that I could eat it and like it.

I tried a salad recipe that was good. I could eat that salad a couple times a week. It was really the dressing on the salad that did it though, not so much the kale. My mission continued...

I tried a white bean and kale soup with sausage. It was just okay. I preferred the white beans by themselves as the kale seemed bitter in the soup and the sausage seemed to overpower everything else. My mission continued...

I tried sauteing it in garlic butter, which seemed to be the most popular method on the internet, but found that recipe to be bitter and tough to chew. EW! My mission continued...

Just the other day I was watching foodnetwork, and let me preface this by saying that while I love to watch cooking shows, foodnetwork is a bit disappointing these days but we'll go there later. I was watching the show with Ann Burrell, something about cooking like a restaurant chef, I believe. She's kind of annoying but kind of entertaining so I take it with a grain of salt because she usually has very cool recipes.

To my surprise she was cooking with kale! I figured I might as well sit down for the half hour show and see what she had to say about it. Like me, most times she finds it to be too bitter to tolerate. Like me, she found she was at a loss as to how it would be best served to others. Interesting...even a chef has trouble with some foods.

Her resolution was to prepare Kale Chips. I never would have thought of that, would you? Surely you would have told me so... LOL

So Ann takes the washed and dried kale and removes the woody stems. This is easy enough to do by just grabbing the leaves from the thick end of the stems and pulling them down and away. They come free with little or no trouble at all.

If the leaves are too big to stick in your mouth, chop them up a bit. The bunch that I bought from the farmer's market had little leaves so no chopping was necessary - you decide. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees and get out your sheet pan/s.

Put the kale in a large bowl, depending on how much you're using, and sprinkle with olive oil. Don't overdo it, sprinkle then mix with your hands and once all the leaves feel coated, that's all you need of the oil. After the oil, sprinkle with the salt of your choice. I used Kosher because that's what was on hand but any kind of sea salt would do this recipe justice as well for it's the salt that makes the kale edible in my mind.

Don't get too carried away with the salt unless you prefer really salty chips. I do! Spread out the kale on your sheet pan/s and set them in the oven. The recipe says leave them in for 25-30 minutes. I found that mine were done at exactly 30 minutes. You may want yours less done but mine were crispy and crunchy and perfectly salty! mmm mmm good

Mission accomplished!

Thanks to Ann Burrell :)

So now you can try kale and hopefully enjoy it as much as I now do!

My issue with foodnetwork? Well, it's mostly the fact that they still insist on using lots of white flour, and white breads for sandwiches or subs or even breadcrumbs. I don't think they should promote the use of such an unhealthy food. The same goes for pasta. They still use processed white pasta instead of the more wholesome, whole wheat versions that are so readily available. And what about the healthier alternative - barley?

My biggest issue is the amount of sugar used. My goodness, I know we limit sweeteners because of the diabetes but watching those shows reminds me of the time when we ate that bad stuff. It is something that is incredibly difficult to eliminate but just as incredibly important to do so. The United States has an epidemic of diabetes and not just in adults. Children are now reported to have the highest rates of diabetes ever...ever! That's not a good thing folks.

When I see the Nestle Quik commercials on TV, I want to shut it off. Those kids have evil eyes that look like they are craving that chocolate syrup like there is nothing else in the world to satisfy them. It is soooooooooo bad for them, for all of us.

So when foodnetwork chefs (cooks) dump a cup of sugar into something, I cringe. Surely they could make it with honey or organic applesauce or hey, just don't make it at all! LOL

That's my newest soapbox...I can't get away from it either. I would like to see you on board with me but I know how you are about your candy bars and cookies and such so I'll leave it at this. For now. For however long I can stand to go without bringing it up again...LOL

I'm off to read about growing garlic in the house...gotta grow something!