Look! Even the kids like Kale Chips!
“What the heck do you make with kale?” I asked one of my girlfriends. The plants looked so pretty at the Downtown Farmer’s Market, but I’m not (yet) a green smoothie girl and I was pretty much at a loss for what to do with all my kale. My garden has largely failed, struggling through our very dry year and suffering from being too shaded by a tree that I’m guessing was not as tall when our garden plats were laid out years ago. But wouldn’t you know it, the one thing I don’t know how to use is going great. I just stared at it for a few weeks, but then it seemed wrong to not reward the kale’s perseverance under such challenging conditions. We had to find a way to eat this stuff. So I asked my friend Rachel, who was so helpful with my peach situation.
Rachel gave me a great looking recipe for an African Vegetarian Stew that involved kale. But given the freakish heat in Iowa right now, my ears really perked up when she said “Or you could do kale chips.” Kale, olive oil, salt, bake. This definitely seemed more my speed. (I’m not really a domestic goddess, I just pretend to be one for this blog).
Pre-baking with BBQ spice.
Kale Chips are crazy easy. Hat tip to Shutterbean for the recipe I used, but basically it’s really as simple as tear up kale, toss with olive oil, salt or….get wild with BBQ spice for BBQ kale chips! I used BBQ seasoning from Pampered Chef, and must thank my consultant, Annelie for that brilliant delish idea. Bake as 350 for 10 minutes. Word to the wise, do not wander out to check the chickens….10 minutes is very fast and they will burn! Kale….now a staple in our garden!
P.S. There are plenty of blogs with gorgeous photography in pristine kitchens. That is not this blog. That’s my wood stripping box on the left, Jack Daniels and my FC Kaiserslautern wine bottle from when we moved the fridge to it’s new home. My US Soccer Til I Die water bottle…gotta hydrate. And one plum tomato. My photos are a life story, not a museum.
Hatton House Diaries 