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Baked Kale Chips

I’ve finished the little lamb toy, but since it’s a gift I don’t want to post pictures until my stepsister gets it in the mail! This is a general problem with blogging about your knitting exploits — so many FOs are gifts, it’s hard to blog in real-time, so to speak.

So what’s a girl to do? Post a recipe for kale chips, naturally?

Okay, so I know this isn’t a food blog. And lord knows I don’t need to start one. But I since I have nothing else to blog about, I figured this is better than nothing.

My secret is nutritional yeast. If you’re not familiar with this magical stuff, it’s basically just dried yeast flakes. Vegans like the stuff because it tastes kinda cheesy and can be used as a thickener in sauces or to make vegan “mac and cheese.” I was introduced to it by my brother, who puts it on popcorn, and quickly became hooked. It’s ridiculously good for you (full of B vitamins and protein) and tastes awesome. It’s kind of like healthy MSG — it makes everything savory just taste better. You can get nutritional yeast in the bulk section of your local Whole Foods or health food store.

Ingredients (estimated… it’s really not precise):
-1 bunch flat kale (works better than curly kale, but curly can work in a pinch)
-3 big pinches kosher salt (see what I mean about the estimated measurements?)
-palmful of nutritional yeast (I wasn’t lying about being imprecise)
-1 or 2 Tbsp olive oil (you get it by now)

So, for the kale chips, the basic method is:

-tear the kale leaves off the center stalk
-wash and dry the kale (this is best done in a salad spinner)

-massage with oil, salt, and nutritional yeast

-spread on baking sheets and bake at 300ish for 10-15 minutes

-attempt not to devour the whole batch immediately

I baked mine at 300° F with the convection fan on in my oven, but normal heat works fine, too. Just make sure not to overbake, as this can lead to bitterness. I bake just until the kale is crispy and dry.

I just plugged this recipe info into Self’s Nutrition Data site, and though my measurements are super imprecise, it seems eating one-quarter of this recipe gives you something like 8 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber, over 200% of your vitamin A allotment, over 100% of vitamin C, 600% of vitamin K (hello!), and B-vitamins up the wazoo. The only downside is the salt, and you can really use as much or as little as you want.

Anywho, I hope this foray into food blogging hasn’t been too distressing for all my knitterly fans! I’ll be back with more fiber-arts content next time. 🙂

Categorized in: Food