Half Of My Kids LOVE Kale

Two out of four is pretty darn good. I didn’t even serve them a kale shake yet (because mine is gone before they’ve had a chance to taste it– and they are grossed out by the look of it.) This method, “frying kale” tastes so good!!!

You can wipe that vision in your head of a vat of oil… I only use a tablespoon — if that much oil. I tried making Kale Chips — you know, baking them in the oven. Although I could never really “master” that method. For me, it works better, I seem to have more control, when I use the stove top.

My boys can entirely wipe out a head of kale in just a few minutes now. Can’t make it fast enough!

First, why all the fuss? Kale, one of the dark green leafy vegetables is a great source of  vitamin K, the B-vitamin folic acid, and betas carotene, which is converted to vitamin A in the liver. They are full of powerful antioxidants that protect us from cancer, cardio-vascular disease. Plus, a better source of calcium than diary products — because kale is loaded in magnesium.

Plus… it tastes so gooooood! Espcially when prepared this way.

Kale Chips: The Method

Spread olive oil and your preferred seasonings (we’re fine with just plan old sea salt) all over a pan —  just enough to coat it. (Butter might be a nice addition too.) Then, I lay the freshly washed kale all over the pan. Yes, it’s bumpy and they stick up… but a slow, low heat takes care of that.

Turn the pan onto a low flame, and just leave it. There is a variety of Kale that I have grown from seed, and that you can find at Whole Foods called Lacinato Kale (a.k.a. Dino Kale).

This one cooks up the nicest, but don’t fret if you can only find curly Kale… it will do just fine, if you are patient.

Keep the heat low, as you don’t want to char your kale. Soon the leaves will crisp up… then you can flip it. The whole process, depending upon how much water is in your kale, takes 15-25 minutes.

I just start a batch while I’m in the kitchen doing something else, and before I know it, the kale is done, and the kids are walking by the stove — two of them — asking if it’s cool enough to eat. Because this never makes it to the table as a side dish. Fried kale is gobbled before I even get the kale down to a respectable cool. If I did, I’d store them up and keep them like potato chips.