I finally got a chance to make kale chips, as I’ve been threatening to do forever. And you know what? They’re damn good. Not only do I not gag at the mere sight of them, I’m actually enjoying them. A lot. As in, must make another batch because these will not still be around when Billy gets home.

I followed Heidi’s directions from the comments, but didn’t heed her salt warning closely enough. I did, indeed, oversalt the kale. They still taste good, but I’ll definitely use a lighter hand on the salt next time. The kid didn’t like them, but I think it’s the saltiness he’s responding to, because he usually loves kale. Anyway, he eats enough of it in other forms that I don’t need him to love kale chips.

I can’t let him eat kale straight from the plant anymore, though. It’s that time of year. We have bugs on the kale. I’m not sure what they are, but they’re pretty gross. See?

The hazards of organic gardening. Come autumn, your kale will likely have residents and your turnips will surely have root maggots and centipedes. Yum. Of course, it’s just part of eating organic produce. I bought a bunch of kale at New Seasons around this time last year and when I got it home I found the same kind of infestation. I was grossed out enough to return it, but when it’s from your own garden, well…you just clean the stuff and move on. Before making the kale chips, I gave the leaves a good soak in water dosed heavily with vinegar and salt. Then I drained, rinsed, and soaked again. And again. No bugs in the water on the final soak, so we were good to go.

I know. SO appetizing. Hey. Back to the land, etc etc.

I rinsed the kale one more time, for good measure (and because I must admit I’m kind of squeamish about the idea of eating bugs. And bugs aren’t vegetarian, either, so…), then laid it out to dry for a while.

Then I tossed the leaves with olive oil and (too much) salt, and baked it for just about 20 minutes at 350 F.

That was it. If it hadn’t been for all the de-bugging, it would have been ridiculously quick and easy. What would have been about two bunches of kale at the market cooked down to a plateful of chips. This will be a good way to use up all that kale in the garden (and get some dark greens into me) until I can stomach the thought of eating it sauteed again. Ah, pregnancy.

You know what would be REALLY good with these kale chips? Some tater tots.

Mmm….tater tots…