How to make the only Kale Chips I'll ever eat.

It's no secret that kale is an extremely nutrient dense food that we should be consuming. Did you know that it can help tremendously with your skin? Full of Vitamin K, kale helps strengthen blood vessels, boost circulation and protect your liver. Since it's anti-inflammatory, it helps reduce puffiness and redness in the face and is great for conditions like rosacea. It's also rich in lutein and zeaxanthin (cartenoids that absorb UV light) which help protect us from free radical damage. Loaded with other vitamins and minerals, kale also has Omega-3 fatty acids and helps your skin stay nourished. Overall eating more kale will help with cell turnover, reducing dryness, and restore radiance to your skin. (Source: Eat Beautiful by Wendy Rowe, 2016)

If you want all of the above but don't know how to incorporate more kale into your diet, look no further! This is my sister's "recipe". The reason I say that in quotations is because I asked her how she made them and all I got was "250 until crisper". So let's just say I made it up from there. 

I have never liked kale chips. I have bought them from the store I don't even know how many times, and each time they taste like what I would imagine dirty leaves to taste like. They have no flavor and the texture is weird. Then last week my sister was talking about making kale chips and my nieces got so excited because they love when she makes them. I was shocked because I like healthy food and eating my greens but couldn't imagine trying kale chips one more time. 

After texting my sister and getting the 250 degrees response, I decided it was time to attempt making them. 

You will need:

A couple stalks of Kale
1 TB Coconut Oil
Salt & Pepper
Garlic Powder or whatever you want to season with

You will need to do the following:

1. Preheat the oven to 250.
2. Rip Kale leaves off of the stems and tear into smaller pieces. Wash in a salad spinner and dry really well; add to a big bowl.
3. Melt the coconut in the microwave for 30 seconds and pour over kale and massage into kale to make sure it's distributed evenly. 
4. Season with S&P to taste and garlic powder (or your choice of seasoning) and mix with hands to make sure it's incorporated well.
5. Spread out on 1 or 2 baking sheets to make sure most of kale isn't touching and has plenty of space. This allows it to properly dry out.
6. Bake 20-30 min until it's your preferred texture checking frequently to make sure you don't burn them. 
7. Try not to eat them all at once.

Note: I baked mine for 20 min and I found that this was absolutely perfect. I think the reason I've never liked kale chips before is because they are so dried out. 20 min was the perfect amount to dry the kale out so it was crunchy, but still have a little bite to them. If you prefer a super crispy and dried out kale chip, try 30 min instead.

If you make these let me know what you think and how you season yours!

Enjoy,

Andrea