I was in Whole Foods the other day and saw this gorgeous, deep purple color sticking out in the midst of all the greens. I was immediately drawn to it and without a second thought stuck a couple bunches in my cart. It looks like kale, feels like kale and even tastes like kale, so I’m calling it purple kale. If it’s something else, please don’t hesitate to tell me!
The first thing I thought to do with it was make kale chips because lately that’s my favortie thing way to prepare the luscious greens. And I figured that the purple color would make them look even more beautiful after crisping up in the oven. As you can see, baking them in a little olive oil somehow brought out some warmer tones and the bowl of kale chips is as lovely to look at as it was to eat. It’s so easy to prepare this – so if you haven’t tried it you should definitely give it a go! Just remember to make sure you dry the leaves as well as possible before baking so your “chips” get nice and crispy and don’t have the consistency of seaweed. Trust me, I speak from experience.
Purple Kale Chips
Ingredients
- 1 bunch fresh kale if you can find purple, even better
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp sea or kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Chop or tear kale in bite-size pieces, making sure to discard thick stems.
- Rinse thoroughly and dry with lettuce spinner and paper towel. If you don't have a lettuce spinner, lay the kale between paper towels and gently press, and wipe pieces that still appear moist. This is an important step to ensure the kale gets crispy.
- Place in large bowl and with hands rub olive oil on the leaves, making sure to cover all the leaves.
- Sprinkle a little salt and mix again with hands.
- Place on baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the leaves are crisp. A bit longer if needed.
- Enjoy!
Creative cooking, I love it!! Sounds so interesting, these new crispy joys of health!! I would love to try. Thank you for sharing Jodi ; )
“crispy joys of health” – I should have thought of that!
So purrttyy! I’m actually headed to whole foods later for some kale and I really hope they have this variety!
I love veggies in color! I’ve been meaning to try kale chips, now I just need to see if I can track down purple kale
tho this is a fairly old post at this point, i must agree purple kale chips are FABULOUS! been makin them for longer than this post is old 😜 much easier to dry than green kale, just gently shake em then lay on paper towels for half hr orso 😉 2 TIPS not mentioned: dont use too much olive oil, drizzle sparingly & add abit more if needed…really dig in and massage kale making sure to completely coat thinly, should not be any oil left in bottom of mixing bowl or they will be greasy 😝 soon as i have them spread out i season them with abit of salt, lemon pepper, red pepper blend, garlic powder, & ital seasoning (sticks real good with the oil)–use whatev seasonings you prefer (btw i sometimes add a couple dashes of balsamic in the olive oil before massaging 😌)
…also DO NOT crowd baking sheet, one layer only, they can touch but no overlapping!! they crisp fast & very nice this way so do not fret if u have to do 2-3 batches, it will go much quicker than you may imagine & ur chips will be quite tasty & crisy ☺
p.s. i happened across this cuz i wondered why it seems NO one ever uses purple kale in ham & bean soup! no pix i see online show or talk about it, only green kale, odd… wtf? 😔
Good tips, thanks! 🙂
Well I have a large one growing in my
garden. I finally found out what it is. I’m excited to try this thanks
How nice to have a garden – I wish I had one! 🙂