Kale Chips? EEEK! Potato Chips? YEAAA!

Kale chips and potato chips
attended a party together and made some friends.

It's hard to believe that some people are contemptuous of vegetables. They shove steamed broccoli or cooked peas around as if maggots were on their plates, and relatively unknown greens such as arugula or bok choy send them into vigorous uploading of meat and mashed potatoes.

But there's one vegetable that tops them all in the vile-to-veggie-haters category and that is kale. The evil kale, that we all should know by now is about the best thing we can eat to stave off inflammation and to boost immune systems. But even PK, who is a veggie lover and ardent gardener, can turn squeamish about kale. Any hint of "strong taste" and he's outta there. But he has another reason for being kale-adverse.

"Do you remember what it did to your BREATH?!" he asked. Rudely, very rudely, when I announced my intention to make kale chips again.

The last time I made kale chips was a few weeks back when we needed a party appetizer. I'd avoided making them before because I thought they'd be too much trouble and kale was not yet growing in the cold frame. But I kept running across recipes exclaiming the ease and deliciousness of kale chips, not to mention their superior nutritional value, so I purchased organic curly kale and started with what seemed a huge amount of torn leaves arranged on two cookie sheets.

Raw kale tossed with olive oil and seasoned salt on a parchment-paper
 lined baking sheet.

About 12  minutes later after baking in a 375 degree oven.

But after baking, I ended up with only a small bowl of green crispy things. They tasted great, even PK agreed, but I wasn't comfortable contributing such a paltry amount at a party for 20 people. What to do? Add potato chips!

Not ANY chip, of course, but Tim's Jalapeno Potato Chips. God, I love them. They are my junk food of choice. Just because I'm big into healthy eating and vegetables and low carbness doesn't mean I'm perfect and can't treat myself to a potato chip now and then. (Like maybe a few every day.) So combining them with the ultra virtuous kale chips is a perfect exercise in yin and yang, good and evil, and party pooper and party savor. (get it?)

When making the first batch, I did a fair amount of of kale-chip tasting, just to make sure they were edible, which made my tongue green and, apparently, my breath fetid, although that could have been because I seasoned the kale with garlic salt. PK did not appreciate my breath, but despite his crinkled up nose, the combo was a hit at the party.

Those who endeavor to eat "healthy" loved the kale chips, and even the people who say screw it when it comes to vegetables, took the plunge by trying a kale chip chased by a jalapeno chip, declared it all good, and came back for more.

So if you'd like to be a hit with a potluck appetizer, even with the kale-adverse group, try this. It's easy! Especially ripping open the potato chip package and dumping it in with the kale chips. I tried to go half and half. By the way, the kale chips disappeared first.

Kale Chips—with a little optional help from Tim 

1. Purchase, or harvest from your garden, one large bunch of kale. Rinse and dry, then remove and discard stems and inner ribs. 
2. Dump the kale into a large bowl and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Most recipes call for one tablespoon.
3. Season the kale carefully with salt* and, if you like, pepper. I included a squirt of Sriracha sauce to befriend Tim's chips. I also sprinkled in a little garlic powder.
4. Mix kale, oil, and seasonings with your hands until evenly coated. 
5. Spread in one layer on two cookie sheets. Parchment paper eases clean-up.
6. Bake in a 250* degree oven for about 30 minutes, or until the chips are dry/crisp. Check after 15 minutes and rearrange chips and/or turn the cookies on oven racks. 
7. Remove chips from the pans and cool on racks.

Mixing with Tim's Jalapeno Potato Chips is optional, of course. But if you're headed to a party,.......Aim to please!
* Kale chip recipes abound, and flavored gourmet salts are popular seasonings, as are curry and pepper flakes. Season sparingly, remembering how that big pile of kale shrinks into a small pile. 
* I've seen recipes calling for higher temps and shorter baking times. I like the cooler oven as the danger of burning the chips is less.