These vibrant dark green leaves belong to kale. A form of wild cabbage that produces stems with large leaves but no compact head. Heralded as the newest super food. Rich in minerals, vitamins and anti oxidants. Renowned for its cancer busting and cholesterol lowering capabilities. The Queen of Greens.

Kale hit my radar only very recently. Courtesy of  My Kitchen Rules and Scott and Luke’s unfortunate over toasted Coconut Kale Salad debacle. Sounded interesting.  Couldn’t be easier. Kale and coconut flakes tossed in oil and tamari. Baked in the oven. Unless of course you take your eye off the ball and burn them to a crisp.

At my greengrocer this week the aisles seemed to be awash with kale. Right there with the cabbages, cauliflowers, cavolo nero and Asian greens. Funny how I’ve never really noticed it before. We are heading into Autumn at the end of this week so perhaps it is in season. I checked its provenance. Australian grown.

With a big, beautiful bunch of kale on hand and up for the challenge I thought I would try baking kale chips. Au naturel. Sans coconut and tamari. The result? Toasty, nutty, moreish, shatter in your mouth flakes of air. Reminiscent perhaps of toasted nori. The modern potato chip. A little bit naughty but very, very good for you.

Oven Baked Kale Chips

1 head kale, washed and thoroughly dried, use a salad spinner if you have one
2 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt, for sprinkling

PREHEAT oven to 160 C.
REMOVE the ribs from the kale and tear into 4 cm lengths.
PLACE torn leaves in an even layer, in batches, on a lined oven tray. Toss with a little olive oil and  sea salt.
BAKE until crisp, turning the leaves halfway through, about 20 minutes.
SERVE as finger food.