Sunday 21 August 2011

Snack Taxi Giveaway Winner!


Congratulations Diane!  Look for an email shortly!

Tuesday 2 August 2011

Kale Chips for One and All!

Oh my heart, I am in LOVE!  I have found a new favourite healthy snack.  This tasty treat is homemade with 3-5 ingredients and takes a total of 10 minutes to make, from prep to mouth.  I perused many recipes on the internet and came up with a version of my own.  Below is a photo documentary of how these delicious, tasty treats came to be.  I hope you try it at home and enjoy them as much as I did!




The Journey to a Perfect Kale Chip

Kale is a green leafy vegetable that is high in calcium, manganese, potassium, folate, Vitamin C, and Vitamin A.  Pretty much, it is a WONDERFUL veggie to have in your life.  While some of us may love to work the greens into our meals, some of us have to fight to sneak them into our own diet, or that of our families.  Kale chips are an excellent way to introduce your palate to kale and also an excellent snack to substitute for popcorn, potato chips, or other salty snacks you crave while watching your favourite sitcom.

For kale chips, you want to try and use the "curly", "wavy" like variety shown above.  I purchased this bundle at my local farmers market.  For a large serving for 2-4 people, I would use the whole head of kale (probably approximately 10 leaves)


Remove the stalk of the kale and discard (COMPOST!!!) it.



Remove the centre "vein" from the each leaf.


Cut the kale leaf into bite sized pieces.  Something to note about kale chips is that they are very delicate, so once you bite them they will shatter.  This is why you want to cut them into a size that you can comfortably fit into your mouth in one tasty, tasty, bite.

Wash the bite sized pieces in a salad spinner and spin dry so there is no excess water hanging about.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

I added simply one tablespoon of olive oil to my bowl full of dried bite sized pieces, and mixed with a spoon until I could see that all the leaves were coated lightly and evenly with the olive oil.

Every recipe you see for kale chips will season with something different.  I found mine to be extremely tasty by seasoning with garlic powder, a touch of salt, and a Cajun spice mix.  Be careful when seasoning to not add so much that it coats the kale.  You want to accomplish a nice dusting of flavour without it overwhelming the natural flavour of the leaf! 

Lay the kale on a cookie pan covered in parchment paper without overlapping the leaves.  Don't worry if they curl over and won't lay flat.  Pop them in the oven and STAY NEARBYI baked my first batch for approximately 6 min, but depending on the oven it could be faster or slower.  What you want to achieve is for the kale to be green with the slightest tinge of browning on the curled edges.  If you let them get any more browned than this, they will taste burnt. 

Remove them from the oven.

Enjoy this tasty, amazingly delicious, inexpensive and healthy treat!

Let me know if you try this out, and if you feel as passionate about this snack as I do!