Kale is known as one of the world’s healthiest food and comes from the Brassica oleracea family. It’s cousins are cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, savoy, kohlrabi and kai-lan. Kale has super high Vitamin K content, as well as Vitamins A, C, B, E and other minerals. The list could go on forever. The health benefits are endless – good for bone health, eye health, digestion, anti cancer, anti diabetes, lowers cholesterol and is full of powerful anti oxidants. It’s one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet.

Kale is not a new vegetable but in Singapore it only started to get known in recent years. I always had the impression that Kale is crazy expensive – perhaps it was a few years back, but now kale is pretty affordable at $4.50 for 300g at supermarkets! The kale is supplied from Australia.

Kale is versatile – can be cooked, can be raw. I’ve only tried it cooked in restaurants and it was only recently that I had it in a salad and I absolutely loved it! Comparing to other salad veggies, $4.50 for 300g is not considered expensive. That justified the purchase.

So I always knew about kale chips and how amazing the texture will be. I tried using kai-lan for it when Kale was not so affordable and the results were not bad, but too much effort. One night I decided I was tired of having kale salads 2 days in a row so I popped the kale in my oven toaster with some olive oil and salt and set it to bake, thinking I’ll get some softened vegetable. Before it hit the 15minutes mark, the kale had already turned crispy!

I certainly did not intend to make kale chips and did not expect kale chips to be so EASY!

There’s no recipe for this. With the oven toaster, there isn’t even the need to preheat. Simply wash and spin dry your kale, torn into pieces, fit them into the tray (doesn’t have to be spread out, just dump them together) and drizzle some olive oil all over. You could toss them or leave it as it is, if you like varying textures. Sprinkle some salt and spices if you wish, and set to bake for 10-15 minutes. My oven toaster has temperature settings and I put it to the maximum. And then your kale will magically turn into crispy chips which is as addictive as crispy seaweed – but better since it’s not processed, and definitely a low carbohydrate option compare to potato chips.

Of course, cooking it like that may have killed off some of the nutrients. It’s best when raw or lightly steamed if nutrition is your objective. But in the case of wanting something to snack on, it is a way better alternative to store bought potato chips isn’t it? So simple and fast to prepare as well!

There are a few varients of kale, and if you can find it, get curly kale. The curled up leaves makes a better texture for both chips and salad.