Recipe: Kale Chips (Healthy Crispy Seaweed)

It may come as a surprise but growing up, my sisters and I were rarely allowed to eat the takeaway dishes that our parents prepared for the customers.

"We cook and serve it 24/7, we don't want it for dinner too!"

"It's not healthy. Have some steamed pak choi instead."

 On the occasions that we did have the odd dinner, we'd request duck pancakes, kung po chicken and a mountain of crispy seaweed. The thing is, we'd glug galleons of water before we've even cleared our first bowl of food and would wake up with hideously puffy faces from the high sodium levels. That wasn't so pretty.

Fun fact, crispy seaweed isn't actually made from seaweed. It's actually green cabbage that's been throughly deep-fried, overloaded with salt and soaked in oil before it's liberally sprawled all over your plate.

I'll let you on a little secret though...

I've perfected my recipe for a healthy version of the dish. It tastes exactly like it, doesn't have nearly as much trans fat and calories, it's super easy to prepare and it's made out of the king of superfoods: kale. All hail the kale.

Kale is classed as a 'nutritional powerhouse' - a single serving will provide you with your entire day's worth of Vitamin A, C and K (which will reduce the risk of various cancers!) It's a powerful antioxidant, high in fibre and rich in iron so munch away! This will satisfy your cravings for crisps and fries and you will be addicted. You've been warned.

You will need:

Handfuls of kale

A swirl of olive oil

A pinch of sea salt

A sprinkle of chilli flakes/paprika (toppings optional)

That's it!

1) Wash your kale well. Drain the excess water with kitchen towels or a salad spinner and make sure it's as dry as possible. This is especially important as soggy kale will only lead to soggy seaweed. Preheat oven to 200C.

- Most people opt to chop off the stalks of the kale so only the leaves remain. This will give it more of a uniform 'crispy seaweed' taste but it's entirely up to you. I personally like the odd chewy texture of the stems!

2) Spread the kale in a single layer over an oiled baking tray. I've used a reusable baking sheet so there wasn't a need to pre-grease it beforehand. Make sure there's enough space for it to 'breathe' and it isn't too closely packed in together. Again, this is important as this will help give it the crunch that we're after!

3) Drizzle a generous swirl of olive oil and sprinkle your 'seaweed' with a dusting of sea salt. Flaked chunky sea salt works really well and gives it a lovely crystallised effect. However, I've used chilli sea salt this time for an added kick! Toppings wise, it's completely down to your personal preference. Chilli flakes and paprika are great and rosemary will boost its flavour!

4) Time for a kale party. Give them some lovin' and a good ol' shake to ensure that everything is seasoned evenly and well.

5) Shove it in the oven for 8-12 minutes or until it crisps up and resembles crispy seaweed as you know it. Keep a very close eye on it as it can brown (and then taste like coal) in a matter of seconds. Beady eyes here, guv'nor.

6) Here's one that I made earlier (I've always wanted a Blue Peter moment). 

7) Transfer to a pretty bowl (or a bucket in my case) and enjoy!

It's the perfect film snack albeit not a very quiet one ;)

If you give this a go, let me know how you get on with it!