I’ve been wanting to make kale chips ever since I first heard about them several months ago. I never really saw kale in the grocery store before I moved out of North Dakota, but that could just be because I never had that much ambition to actually find it before this challenge. Now that I don’t have any excuses, here’s how mine turned out, and what I learned about the health benefits of kale:

According to the World’s Healthiest Foods website, kale can prevent five kinds of cancer (bladder, breast, colon, ovary, and prostate) and can reduce cholesterol (if you steam it). It has several vitamins and minerals, with one cooked cup including over 1300% (that’s not a typo!!) of your Vitamin K recommendation, 350% of your Vitamin A, 89% of your Vitamin C, 27% of your manganese, and good amounts of several other vitamins and minerals. Check out the WHF website for an insane amount of in-depth information about kale.

To try kale for myself, I found a kale “chips” recipe on Allrecipes. Here’s what I did: Wash and dry one bunch of kale. If you don’t have a salad spinner you can do what I did and throw your washed kale in a clean pillowcase and have fun flinging it around until it’s dry (you want it to be dry so it bakes properly).

Heh heh. It’s such a fun trick. I think I’d make kale chips every day just to dry it!

Once you’re done playing with your pillowcase , pull it the stems off of your kale to make cute little potato chip sized pieces, and toss with a tablespoon of oil, a tablespoon of good flavored vinegar (I used rice wine vinegar), and a few sprinkles of sea salt. Spread it evenly over two baking sheets and bake for about 30 minutes, stirring it midway through. Your cooking time may vary depending on your oven and your kale!

When my husband walked in the door after school, I was wondering what he would say about the aroma. I thought it smelled amazing, and hoped he wouldn’t be expecting some sort of delicious meal (I had been planning on serving leftovers like a good wife).

He wasn’t expecting that at all. What he actually said when he walked through the door was, “It smells like B.O. in here.”

Whaaaaat?

“I thought it smelled good!” I said.

I WISH I’d have gotten a photo of the expression on his face when he saw the bowl of kale on the counter. He actually looked like he wanted to throw up a little (guys!). But then, he tried one. And another. And one more. He had a weird, confused expression on his face.

Then he grabbed a beer.

“Is this good for you?” he asked.

I told him it was. He shrugged his shoulders and continued eating it. He said it was weird, but sort of addictive in that salty-delicious sort of way. Good beer food.

I didn’t pack up any kale chips for him to snack on at school today, because I was pretty sure he wouldn’t want to be carrying a bag of green leafy stuff around in front of everyone else. But when I asked him if I should just get rid of it, he shook his head and said he would eat it after school.

Not bad for incredibly healthy, green leafy stuff.

The Verdict? This stuff definitely is different from a lot of things you might have had before, but it’s a little like crack, because you keep reaching for more. It’s healthy and it’s a super light snack if you just want something to munch on. I’m not sure how often I’ll make it, but I definitely would consider this a success. And next time, I’ll make sure I have my camera ready when the hubby walks through the door.

Have you ever cooked something that made someone else cringe?  What’s your favorite way to eat kale?

Keep in touch, and keep it real!

Justine