Chips Ahoy!

There are people who lose their appetites when they are nervous... and then there are those who get the munchies when they're stressed. 

Me? Let’s just say that if you are in a 25-mile radius of my house today and hear a crunching sound, it’s probably coming from my kitchen. And my office… and my family room…  My daughter just left for her first summer of sleep-away camp this morning. And while I know she’s in good hands and will have an amazing summer, I’ll feel a little better when I get that first letter saying, “Camp is great!”

In the meantime, I am trying to keep my hands out of the cookie jar…  (and the chip bag, and the pretzel bag….)

Good time for kale chips, wouldn’t you say?

If you’ve never had them, kale chips are small pieces of kale leaves roasted in the oven with a little bit of olive oil till crispy and crunchy, and sprinkled with a little bit of salt and/or spices. I’ve had them a few times at parties and keep meaning to make them, and with a bunch of kale from last week’s CSA pick-up still sitting in my refrigerator, today seemed like the perfect day to try.

Here's what I did:

Preheat the oven to 375.

Cut the leaves off a bunch of kale (discarding tough stems), and cut or tear into pieces about 2x2” Drizzle with just a little olive oil. (If you use too much oil, the chips won’t crisp up.) Sprinkle with seasoning. You can use plain salt, or seasoned salt. I used some za’atar, an Israeli herb blend with sumac, hyssop and sesame seeds. (Given what it looks like, I’m amazed my Israeli friend was able to get the Ziploc baggie of it she brought me through customs, but I’m glad she did.) Roast for 15-20 minutes – or for about as long as it takes to log on to the camp website 374 times to see if there are any pictures of your kid up yet.

Let the chips cool, and munch away, pretty much guilt-free!