Planet to Plate: Janella Purcell’s Kale Chips. These Kale Chips make for a great snack, salad mix enhancer and a garnish for steamed veggies.
Janella Purcell is passionate about living a healthy, balanced life easily, affordably and practically, nurturing the earth, ourselves and society. She lives and works in the world of organic wholefoods and natural health, with a focus on how to achieve sustainable and permanent wellness.
“Kale is easy to grow and I often have a few varieties at once. Its yield supplies more than enough for me and the neighbourhood. Making kale chips is a really tasty, economical and healthy way to use the vegetable. Eat the chips as a snack, mix them through salads or use them to garnish steamed veggies,” Janella says.
Kale Chips
Serve: 2 | Prep time: 20 minutes
1 bunch of kale, any variety
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
unrefined salt
Preheat your oven to 190˚C. Wash and dry your kale well. You may need to wash it a couple of times as it is sometimes difficult to get all the dirt off first time. Strip the leaves from the stems. You need the kale to be very dry: if you have one, use a salad spinner to spin the leaves; if not, spread the kale on a tea towel, press out as much water as possible, then wait until completely dry.
Chop the kale into bite-sized pieces about 5 cm square and toss into a large salad bowl. Using your fingers, thoroughly rub the oil and salt all over the kale.
Place the kelp pieces flat on baking trays. Be careful not to let any overlap or they won’t crisp up. Bake for 10–12 minutes, keeping an eye on them as they tend to burn easily and will become bitter. Cool completely on the trays. You can store them in an airtight jar for about a week.
Variations
For a different flavour, add ¼ teaspoons each of cayenne pepper and smoked paprika.
For salt and vinegar chips, add 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and 2 teaspoons of unrefined salt with the oil. Sprinkle on 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds and some garlic or onion powder or sweet paprika.
This recipe will feature in Planet to Plate: The Earth Hour Cookbook that will be published to coincide with this year’s Earth Hour, on Sunday March 28 at 8.30pm, and will be available to purchase online from earthhour.org.au/cookbook for $39.95 from March 1.
