Kale Chips

When your CSA sends you kale and your husband detests the stuff.

Kale chips with Sesame Garlic Glaze

I joined a CSA at work and every week I get a bag of their choosing. At the beginning of the summer it was long on carrots so there's a scone variation soon to be added to the Rhubarb scone recipe. There have been lots of salad greens, cukes, and root veggies that have been easy to use. When the kale showed up, I considered looking for a trade with a coworker, but ended up bringing it home.

It was too much to cook for just me, so I set out to make kale chips. After a bit of research, I landed on a 300 degree baking temperature and an Asian seasoning mix.

Kale Chip Tips

What I did right was the seasoning: sesame oil, tamari, Dijon, followed by a sprinkling of garlic powder, miso, ginger and sesame seeds.

After reading about the how-tos of kale chips, it became apparent that I should 'massage' the leaves with some kind of oil. I am a sesame or olive oil kind of cook and decided on the sesame for this adventure. That led to adding some tamari, and finally a touch of Dijon (mostly to emulsify the mixture).

I decided that the chips might benefit from some additional umami, so mixed up some garlic, ginger and white miso powders with sesame seeds to sprinkle on before baking.

After rinsing the leaves and cutting off the really thick stem ends, I towel dried each leaf and transferred them to a giant bowl. I poured in the oil mixture and tossed everything by hand and then made sure that each leaf as coated before placing on a Silpat lined baking sheet.

The reason I settled on 300 degrees for baking was based on caution and impatience. Some methods recommended a really low temp akin to dehydrating and would take hours, others suggested almost broiling temperature and would take minutes, at 300 degrees the kale-verse recommended a 15 to 20 bake time with a caution that it can still burn quickly. That still seemed the safest option for me.

Lesson 1

What I did wrong:

The leaves were huge! I left them whole except for the tough stems I removed at the bottom.

What I should have done:

Removed the center stem altogether before seasoning and baking. The stem got woody and tough and I ended up trying to remove it after baking -- that was not a good idea.

Lesson 2

What I did wrong:

Bake them directly on the silicone mat

What I should have done:

Placed a wire rack in the pan and set them the leaves on that for even crisping. Turning them over halfway through the baking time is an option, but I was fearful that they would be brittle and fall apart.

I think it's important to note that I took this rabbit hole trip during an incredibly humid spell and that may have also played into the fact that they weren't as crisp as I might have liked.

In an attempt to crisp up the leaves, I ended up placing them on a rack and letting them sit in the oven for an hour after I had turned it off. That did help a bit.

Bottom line here is that the chips were yummy with the Asian inspired seasoning. I will definitely make them again (somehow I am sure I'll see more kale from my CSA).

THE RECIPE

kale

1/4 C sesame oil

2T tamari or soy

1t Dijon mustard

1T sesame seeds

1t each garlic powder, miso powder and ginger

(Just a thought) if you like some heat, you can use some of the dry ingredients in my chili crisp kit to replace the mix here.

Wash and dry the kale.

Lesson 1 learned..... remove and discard the center stem and place the leaves in a large bowl

Whisk the oil, tamari and mustard together until emulsified

Pour the oil mixture over the leaves and hand toss

Massage the oil mixture into each leaf to ensure coating on both sides.

Lesson 2 learned.... Set a wire rack into a lined cookie sheet and place the leaves in a single layer.

mix the sesame seeds and powders together in a small bowl and sprinkle it on the kale before baking.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the kale feel crispy and is dry to the touch.

Depending on humidity and your oven, it may take longer. You can also turn the oven off after 20 minutes and leave the door closed until the oven cools. If you're not in a rush, this is a pretty fail-safe way to do it.

Let it cool completely before storing in an air-tight container.

Kale Chips

Thought for food......If you're a kale-hater, my husband will tell you that this didn't change his mind.