Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Today's Harvest & Kale Chips

The winter veggie garden is still growing strong.  Today I harvested another full colander of salad greens, several more heads of broccoli, as well as plenty of kale, collards and chard.


I used the lettuce, arugula and spinach to make several salads, the broccoli became a side dish, and the chard and collards went into some green juice drinks.  But I thought I would try something a little different with the kale this time...kale chips.

I de-ribbed the kale, cut it into about 1.5 inch pieces, coated it in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, spread it on a baking sheet, and sprinkled some of my home-made herb salt on them, then popped them in the oven at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes, flipping the kale pieces about halfway through.


I love kale tossed in a salad or steamed as part of a side dish.  However, I've never actually had kale chips before.  I'm not quite sure what I was expecting, but the kale chips didn't quite meet my expectations.  I think they were a bit more bitter than I anticipated.  They were also extremely light and airy and didn't satisfy any snacking cravings that I had.


 Or, maybe I just didn't prepare them quite right, in which case, I would be happy to hear about any tips or tricks you have in baking kale chips.

My harvest totals so far this year include:
  • 7.5 oz Cherry Bell radish
  • 1 lb 9.7 oz kale (unknown variety)
  • 2 lb 6.8 oz Flash collards
  • 11.7 oz Ruby Red chard
  • 6.4 oz Fordhook Giant chard
  • 4 colanders salad greens (lettuce, spinach, arugula) 
  • 1 lb 2.9 oz Meyer Lemons (5)
  • 1 lb 1.2 oz Broccoli (5)
  • 7.1 oz cilantro
  • 6.5 oz parsley


3 comments:

  1. That's too bad the kale chips didn't satisfy - but I'm with you. I made them once - thought the flavor and texture were interesting but not particularly filling, and that was that. I continue to use kale in salads and cooked into other dishes, but as a snack food? Not so much what I'm looking for. Kale chips do make an interesting garnish sprinkled over salads and into stir fry dishes but this particular preparation is not one I employ often.

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  2. Your greens are beautiful Once again, I failed, failed, failed at producing winter greens. I'll just have to come back to your blog to drool.

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  3. Rebecca, I don't think my comments have been getting to you. I toggle between my blogspot account and the other at wordpress. I think that maybe why?

    I've never had luck with kale chips or brussel sprout chips. My guess was that I didn't use the right type of oil... let me know if you figure it out!

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