Food Friday: Kale Chips for Thanksgiving

Our local son and daughter-in-law invited us to eat  Thanksgiving dinner with them and their family.  They were going to prepare everything.  Did not need us to bring anything, so....my thought was, if we brought something, it would be a bonus.  We brought the leftover raw onion and flax crackers and some freshly "chipped" kale from our garden.  (We have three more plants that I am hoarding, but will have to use them up soon, I am afraid.  Next year I will plant a LOT more.)

To harvest the kale at this end of season, I actually pulled up the three smallest-producing plants, pulled off the leaves and buried the roots and stems in the garden's hay covering, hoping they would begin their composting over the winter.

Next I washed each leaf individually, and VERY well, picking off the pine needles that the recent high winds had blown onto these valiant soldiers in the garden.

After the leaves were clean, I tore the kale off the ribs, making them more or less chip-sized and put them in a large clean stainless steel bowl.

Over the pieces of kale I poured 1 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil then with my very clean hands I gently massaged the oil and kale together.  When each leaf-let had a sheen of oil on it I put on coarse kosher salt (about 1 teaspoon) and freshly ground black pepper (about 1/2 teaspoon), tossed lightly, then put on a pan.

Previously I had set the oven to 225 degrees F to preheat.  Yes, 225.

The pan went into the oven for 20 minutes, after which time I checked on the chips. They were still a glorious green and much of the chips were ready to eat.  Since the rest were not, I put the pan back into the oven for 10 more minutes.  That was actually too long, if green kale chips was our goal.  They were all crispy then, not at all burned, just not as pretty green anymore.

After eating a few slightly not-crispy leaves, I let the rest cool then put them in a container to take to share with our Thanksgiving dinner.   Several of us really liked them.

When traveling with kale chips, you really do need to have a sturdy covered container, and a gentle hand.  It is very possible to "break" the chips.  If they are slightly less cooked, they hold up better.