I’m by no means the first person to make kale chips, but I am a huge advocate of kale chips as a healthy snack option. My first kale chip experience was courtesy an adventurous hippy friend who’s alway on the lookout for new food finds. After a taste, I was a fan and would buy them by the armful from the local co-op (which said hippy friend introduced me to, of course). After a short while I decided to save the trip to the store (and some money) and began making them myself.
But I never thought of them as kid-friendly food until my niece came over and I gave her a few chips to try. Seconds later, she was tugging at my hem, asking for more, and the rest is history. What makes these such a kid-worthy snack is that kale is one of the most nutritionally dense foods available with loads of calcium, fiber, vitamin A, C, K, and tons of fiber. But enough about nutrition, they’re also tasty and super simple to make. My niece and nephew (aka my guines pigs for all my kid-friendly recipes) nosh them as is, but the chips are also great stirred into mashed potatoes, crumbled and tossed with popcorn, or eaten with a dip.
Roasted Miso Kale Chips Recipe
There are as many ways to make kale chips as there are cooks, but this is my method. I like to bake them at higher heat so they get crisp and crunchy, but I keep it below 400°F so that they don’t burn (they taste bitter if they burn). If you don’t have soy or miso, you can use a pinch of salt and your favorite spice blend (I like to use chile powder, Madras curry, and ras el hanout for my adventurous friends.) The key is to make sure you wash and thoroughly dry each kale leaf before you roast it so that you up the crisp factor and avoid steaming the greens.
Makes: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients
12 ounces lacinato kale or swiss chard, stemmed* and torn into bite-sized pieces
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons white miso** (or low-sodium soy sauce)
Instructions
Heat oven to 375°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Divide greens between two rimmed baking sheets and drizzle with olive oil and soy or miso. Rub greens between hands to thoroughly coat in oil and soy.
Spread greens in one layer among rimmed baking sheets and roast, rotating halfway through, until dry and crisp but not burned, about 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. These are best when eaten within 24 hours, but will last up to 3 days when stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
*Stemming Kale or Chard: I use one of two methods for removing kale or chard leaves(and other cooking greens) from the stem. Either 1) Strip it off the stem 2) Cut out the rib
**Fine Print: The miso that I link to here is one that I discovered as part of my work with foodCrafters. This is by no means a sponsored post and I was not compensated by South River Miso in anyway.
This recipe is part of my week of healthy back to school recipes that I’ll be posting through Friday September 9th.
