Kale Chips

I first heard about kale chips sometime last year when I was searching for a healthy alternative to potato chips—my weakness. I crave the crunchy, salty, and flavor chips encompass, but hate the excess calories.

I'll admit I was extremely skeptical the first time I tried these. I mean, really? How in the world could a leaf calm my chip craving? So with a cynical mind, I made my kale chips and about ten minutes later I was chowing down on something amazing and surprisingly delicious.

I made them a few times while my husband was out of town, just to make sure I knew what I was doing. Then, when he came home, I asked if he wanted to try them. I was waiting for the typical man response of, "You want me to eat WHAT?" But instead, he willingly tried them and liked them! SUCCESS! Now, we make kale chips several times a month, if not more, and eat them as a snack or have them along with meals. Sure, I still have an occasional weakness for real chips, but believe me when I say these scratch my potato-chip itch!

I suggest playing with the ratio of oil, salt, and pepper until you figure out what you like on the chips. The nice thing with kale is that there's usually so much that you'll have plenty to play around with. I'll be the first to admit that sometimes I still burn my kale chips, but then I just pop another batch in the oven and try it again!

Kale Chips

Ingredients:
1 pound kale, chopped and stems removed
olive oil (drizzle or spray)
salt and pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. In a bowl, drizzle or spray olive oil over kale. You want the kale covered with oil, but not drenched or saturated. Sprinkle and mix with salt and pepper (to taste). Place kale on baking sheets, somewhat spread out, trying not to overlap too many pieces. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until crisp. Keep a close eye on them towards the end and take them out when they start crisping. Enjoy!