Ode to Kale Part II

Shopping at the Farmer's Market in So Cal is glorious, especially when summer is coming to an end and fall is just beginning, although we don't feel as though summer has ended since we are having record breaking heat, but that's neither here nor there. Kale is what I'm after, it has Vitamins A, C and K, along with calcium, folate and potassium, it's an all around super food for women and osteoperosis and men and heart health, and at the farmer's marker it's usually very good and the organic isn't that much more per pound than the non-organic if that's what you're going for.

Well all my best intentions of making my kale salad went out the window and it started to wilt (note the sadness of the kale from the pic above), yuck. And once it starts to do that good luck restoring it to it's green leafy state; it doesn't respond all that well to an ice bath and starts to smell skunky if left too long in the fridge soaking in water, believe me I tried, who boy it was wrinkle your nose hold your breath kind of stinky. My solution to not having to throw away said wilty kale; Kale Chips!!!
Yes my friends I said it, I love the things and it turns out 2 minutes in the microwave is all it takes for crispy, crunchy, air puffed glorious Kale Chips. ***Please see note at bottom of page.

Here's what you need:

1 Bunch of Kale, washed thoroughly(and no it does not have to be wilted)
S&P, tt
Olive Oil infused with Garlic(recipe to follow after chips)

Dry kale by pressing both sided with a towel. Then take out the stem by pushing the leaf from the base of the stem up until you are left with the leaf in one hand and the stem in the other.
Lay the leaf flat onto a paper towel, folded in half or paper plate. Not all of the leaves will fit on the paper towel, so you'll have to make several trips, have a plate handy to toss them onto when done.
Sprinkle with S&P, then with your clean index finger dip in garlic olive oil and dot the kale, it should only take one dip of your index finger for each kale leaf.
Pop the kale into the microwave and nuke for 2 minutes, time may vary depending on the wattage of your microwave.  Once crispy and oh so yummy looking share with your friends and family or pop them into a ziploc baggie and keep them all to yourself. But that would be selfish and cruel, unless you live by yourself, then no one would know you made them. Here they are boys and girls, the finished product, nom, nom, nom.

Now for the Garlic infused olive oil

Olive Oil
2 cloves Minced garlic
1/4 of a small onion minced(opt)
S&P, tt

Pour a few good glugs of  olive oil into a microwave proof bowl, round about 1/2 a cup.
Toss in garlic, onion(if using) and sprinkle in S&P.
Microwave for 30 seconds, stir and pop back in for another 15 seconds, taste and if it tastes garlicky and smells like it too it's ready to go, store in a sealed jar or a pirex bowl with lid in the fridge and use whenever the fancy strikes you. You can also do this recipe on the stovetop, but be very careful not to burn the garlic, bring the oil up to a simmer slowly and do not walk away, once a fruity fragrance emanates from the pot it's ready to go, just let it cool down until warm to the touch and store in a sealed container. Happy cooking my friends and remember to keep it homemade!


***If the kale is a little less wilted there is a chance that they will catch on fire. No joke, I was cooking some up and at right around 1min. 48 sec. my microwave emanated a strange orange glow to which I quickly open the microwave and and furiously batted away the smoke, luckily my kale was not ruined and only a few of them were burnt on tiny spots along the small amount of stem left. So just so ya know, don't walk away!! It was a pretty orange glow and the smoke smelled faintly of popcorn.