Baked kale chips

Back in the dark ages when I earned my keep as a babysitter, I used to sit for one family who were more than a bit on the crunchy granoloa side of things. On my first night on the job, I had the typical tour of the house and learned about emergency phone protocols, bedtime routines and the like. When the tour landed in the kitchen, the mom turned the discussion to snacks.

"The kids can have some chips and juice before bed," she said, pulling a box of corn flakes from the cupboard. "The juice is in the fridge and the cups are above the sink."

"Great," I said. "And where are the chips?"

"Here," she said, pointing to the corn flakes. "We put them in a bowl and tell the kids they're chips. Clever, huh?"

Seriously? I was so flabbergasted I wasn't quite sure what to say, but I knew for sure those kids were getting a raw deal. I completely understand not wanting to feed your kids chips, but if that's how you feel, then don't sugar coat -- or in this case, corn coat -- the situation and pass off one food for another. What about popcorn as a snack? It's not that unhealthy, and at least it's a legitimate snack food and not a breakfast cereal posing as a latenight treat. Can you imagine how peeved those kids must have been when they actually experienced real chips for the first time? Talk about setting up your children not to trust you about anything!

I was reminded of that chip anecdote when I made these kale chips last week. If you read food blogs as I do, then you'll know that baked kale was all the foodie rage a while ago. Everyone was raving about its greatness, and it turns out, it was warranted praise. These chips really do bake into crisp, salty chips that you feel almost guilty snacking on. Now you're never going to be fooled into thinking they're potato chips, but with the crispy texture and salty kick, they are quite tasty. Think more of a seaweedy flavour rather than starch (and I mean that in a good way). Apart from the salt and a trace amount of oil, these chips are good for you too. Why not get some vitamin A and C the next time you snuggle in to watch a movie and fancy a snack?

Here's how the chips look pre-baking, all glisteny with oily goodness. I think you could experiment with different flavoured oils for a slightly different taste.

And after a while in the oven, they come out dehydrated and super crisp. Perhaps not the most attractive snack food you've ever seen, but believe me, they are good. And the bonus is they stayed crispy, covered and uncovered, for several days after they were baked. The chips are pretty fragile once they're baked, so you have to handle them delicately. One recipe I saw suggested crunching up the chips and adding to popcorn. It's a total doubling up of snack foods, but what's wrong with that?

Baked Kale Chips
Adapted from a bunch of inspiring places and found here

1 bunch (about 6 ounces) kale (I used curly kale, but any kind will do. Apparently chard and other greens work well too.)
1 tablespoon olive oil (or enough to coat your leaves lightly)
Sea salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 300°F. Rinse and dry the kale, then remove the stems and tough center ribs. Cut into large pieces, toss with olive oil in a bowl then sprinkle with salt. Arrange leaves in a single layer on a large baking sheet, lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20 minutes, or until crisp. Place baking sheet on a rack to cool.

Power up

Ever heard of the key power foods you're supposed to eat for maximum health? Well I managed to combine several of them into one meal this week. Bammo! Take that power foods.

So here's what I did: I boosted up regular old salmon cakes with two super health additions -- kale and quinoa. I had both cooked in advance, and added the chopped kale (probably 1/2 cup or so) to just about a cup of quinoa. Then, in went a tin of salmon, mashed a fork, some dried dill, two beaten eggs and lots of pepper and salt.

Here's how they looked in a pan with just about a teaspoon of olive oil. They were fairly wet, but still held together well.

I had them with an orange and fennel salad. Healthy and powerful!

Weekend cooking bonanza!

I was a very busy bee in the kitchen this weekend. You'd think I didn't have anything to do to prepare to move house in under two weeks. Yikes! But actually, I worked my kitchen time around cleaning out my closets and organizing papers etc. How have I managed to accumulate so much stuff in my life? Ugh. So far I've made two trips to Value Village (to their Diabetes Association drop off box anyway) with six massive garbage bags full of clothes, shoes and purses, and have empited my shredder twice working through the myriad of paper on my desk. The poor thing is in danger of overheating, so now I'm resorting to fill up grocery bags with shreddables and taking them into work, where a nice man will come and shred my six-year-old pay stubs for me (I don't know why I kept them either).

Anyhoo, back to the food. Yesterday I cooked a chicken to make broth, and managed to get two big soup recipes from it. I plan to freeze a bunch of it, based on the thinking that I'll be quite busy in the next little while, and it will be good to have some meals at the ready.

One of the soups I made was this sausage, lentil and kale concoction. It's from the latest Everyday Food and I'll definitely be making it again. (The other soup was plain ol' chicken noodle.)

Stat off by browning the sausage meat. I used some pork/garlic ones from Aubreys.

Then stiir in the celery and onion to soften.

Next go the stock and lentils. Cook until everthing's cooked.

Meanwhile, chop and de-stalk the kale. Healthy or what?

And here's the finished bowl. Yum, yum!

Sausage and Kale Soup (from Everyday Food)

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
2 celery stalks (with leafy tops), thinly sliced
1 medium yellow onion, diced medium
1/2 cup dried lentils
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth (or homemade)
1 bunch (about 1/2 pound) kale, preferably Tuscan, stems removed, torn into bite-size pieces
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 teaspoons red-wine vinegar

1.In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add sausage and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add celery and onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add lentils, broth, and 1/2 cup water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a rapid simmer, partially cover, and cook until lentils and vegetables are tender, 25 minutes.

2.Add kale and season with salt. Return soup to a rapid simmer, cover, and cook until kale wilts, about 5 minutes. Remove soup from heat, stir in vinegar, and season with salt and pepper.