Thursday, August 11, 2011

Late to the party


Often, something I'm currently interested in or trying is just about to crest. Beekeeping? Check. Urban farming? Check. If someone famous starts homeschooling, you'll know who to blame.

But I'm apparently way behind the curve here, because despite my incredible Kale Love, this morning was the first time I made kale chips. Those leaves in the top picture have been tediously (oh, so tediously) cleaned of aphids and rubbed -- by hand -- with olive oil, then sprinkled with a bit of salt.

Popped into the oven at 300F, in about 12-15 minutes, they looked like this:


And tasted of -- well, I can't describe it. If you like seaweed as a snack, you'd probably like that. I had tea and kale for breakfast, and tea and kale for a lot of lunch. I'm not going to make it frequently, because it's labor-intensive, but if I'm baking anyhow, tossing in a panful wouldn't be too difficult. They're tastier without the ribs, but not as pretty.

9 comments:

michelle said...

Mmmm, kale chips! I love them. I haven't tried it with whole leaves, they look so pretty and appetizing that way. When my kale grows up (the new crop has barely sprouted true leaves) I'm going to give that a try. In the meantime I'm stil waiting for my first ripe tomato from the garden. Sheesh, I think the fall crops will beat the summer crops to the table this year. Well, just the tomatoes actually, but what's summer without home grown tomatoes...

Daphne Gould said...

I still haven't tried kale chips. I keep meaning to, but the kale always gets eaten before chips are made.

kitsapFG said...

I also have not done kale chips yet... but I have a bunch of it in the garden that needs harvesting this weekend, so I think I will just do it and give this a whirl!

Mr. H. said...

We made these for the first time this year too...only ours turned brown from cooking a little too long and tasted about as good as they looked.:( Will have to try again someday.

Stefaneener said...

Michelle, they did have presentation appeal : ) My tomatoes are still all green, but it's time to plant out lettuce. How did this happen?

Daphne, keep us posted.

kitsapFG, I hope you like them. I'm not up to making more for breakfast today, but who knows. . .

Mr. H., yes, I can imagine that brown would be less yummy.

meemsnyc said...

I had all intentions of growing kale this year, but I forgot to plant it. I hope it's not too late for fall.

Cassy said...

First time to visit your blog and I find very nice to follow.

Keep posting.

Cassy from Guitar Made Easy

Curbstone Valley Farm said...

I didn't try kale chips until last year. I hadn't really heard of them until a friend made some for us. They are quite tasty though. Our tomatoes are still green too. I was debating whether to squeeze in another basil crop this summer, but I'm wondering if I should just skip to the fall brassicas! Next summer will be better...it must be...

Lou Murray's Green World said...

Great post on kale chips. I tried Lacinato kale for the first time this year, being a Scotch Blue Curled Kale fan. I LOVE the taste and texture of the Lacinato. I've been meaning to try making kale chips and this has inspired me.