Saturday, June 25, 2011

Strangest Kale Recipe Yet!

So, for some forgotten reason I'm growing kale this year, Dwarf Blue Curled Scotch Kale, to be exact. It's growing fantastically, hasn't shown any signs of insect activity and they're really attractive plants.



The problem, though, is that we don't eat a lot of kale. It's always just been that stuff they use to dress up the seafood case at the store. Or, on a few rare occasions--one, maybe--I've put it in soup. So having broken the gardening rule that we're only going to grow what we'll eat I went in search of recipes to use that stuff up. Naturally, there is a plethora of soup recipes online. Many pair it with beans and for reasons I'll go into at another time, we don't need another beans-n-greens opportunity. Then I stumbled on what I think is a rather unique recipe: Baked Kale Chips. I know, it sounds completely crazy but they really are good. They won't last until tomorrow and I'm starting to worry I didn't plant enough kale. I made them using the method in the recipe and sprinkled them with Barbecue 3000 blend from Penzey's and some salt. The results aren't pretty, but they're delicious! Maybe it's just that if you put enough olive oil and salt on anything it becomes edible, but I like the slightly cabbagey flavor they have. Next time I make them, I'll hold off on some of the oil and salt. They shrink when they cook so underseasoning them at the beginning is probably a good idea.

1 Responses (Leave a Comment):

Shady Character said...

FYI Update: 1 teaspoon, yes, teaspoon! of oil is sufficient. I've made this a couple times since and it's proven true. Just drizzle the oil over the kale in a bowl and then toss and rub the leaves around with your hands. It's plenty.