Crispy Baked Kale Chips

I have been meaning to try kale chips ever since they have (apparently) been taking the internet by storm. People have raved online about how crisp and delicious and amazing yet healthy these leaf-chips can be, but photographs of the stuff did not look particularly appetizing. I got eight ounces of curly kale in my weekly CSA from Frog Bottom Farm this week and kale chips seem to be a vegan favorite, so I thought they would be good to try as I re-embark on my vegan journey and as I begin this blog.

I can now confirm the rumors that baked kale chips are, in fact, delicious, crunchy, and even addictive. Aaron declared them "fun to eat and flavorful." I made three baking sheet's worth of chips from my half-pound of curly kale. And while they don't look particularly toothsome, they are surprisingly light and have an amazing crunch.

To make the chips, I looked around online at a bunch of different recipes, which are pretty much all variations on a basic technique - tear the kale into smallish pieces, coat with a little olive oil, spread evenly on a baking sheet, sprinkle lightly with salt, and bake until crispy.

The best part about this salty snack is that you can actually feel good about eating it. One ounce of kale (I used the data for boiled kale, as there was no data for baked or roasted) has 309% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin K, and 82% of the vitamin A you need in a day, according to Nutrition Data.

An added bonus is that kale gets pretty cheap during autumn. I saw some at my local grocery store today for 99 cents per pound. At that price, I used only 50 cents worth of kale to make this snack for two people. Not bad, considering the fact that you'd be hard pressed to find a bag of chips for 50 cents in most vending machines!