Crispy Kale Chips

Sometimes life just happens and you can’t get to your CSA produce. While this almost never happens in my home (massive veg hound over here!), I had to leave town right after picking up my share. Sort of banking on nothing being good when I returned, I hit the grocery store right after landing at the airport. I really overshopped, because when I got home, all my produce was edible! Maybe they weren’t the crispest greens, but TWO WEEKS!? Come on, that is unheard of. This is really a testament to the freshness that is choosing local with Rainshadow Organics. Farmers are harvesting your produce hours before you have it at your house. It is not shipped unripe from Chile or Mexico on ships or in semi trucks sometimes weeks before it even gets to the grocery store, leaving you counting down the minutes until the produce goes bad. And what’s even better, you can taste the difference. The flavor of greens and roots harvested at their peak is something special. I needed to get cooking, and use everything right away, so this is just a simple recipe that highlights the flavor that comes from kale picked from Central Oregon earth. I hope you enjoy!

 

Crispy Kale Chips

Ingredients

  • 1 head Kale
  • 1 Tbsp Avocado Oil (or melted Rainshadow animal fat)
  • Sea salt to taste

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 250F

  2. Wash the kale thoroughly and air dry or pat dry with a towel

  3. Cut out the stems and reserve for a stir fry or green juice at a later time (we don’t throw away nutrients!)

  4. Roughly chop the kale into ‘chip’ sized pieces

  5. Place the kale in a bowl and add 1 Tbsp fat. Lightly massage until all leaves are evenly coated.

  6. If you have an oven safe cooling rack, this is the best way to get crisp, but not shriveled/burnt. In a pinch, you can use a parchment lined cookie sheet, but it’s really not as effective for the ‘perfect’ crisp

  7. Bake for ~10-12 minutes, watching closely as ovens can vary by cooking time by a minute or two. 

  8. When perfectly crisp, remove from the oven and sprinkle with a little sea salt. They are also so tasty with a little parmesan sprinkle, or togarashi, or whatever seasoning you fancy.

Simple, tasty, and healthier than actual chips 😉

Cheers!

-@theprimalfocus