Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Got Kale?

I've sure been enjoying my vegetables this week! Have you?

So before I grace you with these stellar kale chips, I thought I'd touch on some benefits of vegetables and why they are just so dang important!
  • the fiber in vegetables (and fruits) reduce risk of disease, keep you full, and keep your body digesting properly
  • they are naturally low in fat and calories and high in nutrients, vitamins and minerals...SCORE
  • by eating an adequate amount of vegetables, you give yourself the daily needed intake of many vitamins and minerals needed to promote healthy bone, muscle and body function
Pretty much, they rock!

Now to the kale chips...
Oh man they are tasty!

All you need is:
- kale
- 2 T. olive oil
- sea salt
- and optional parmesan cheese

1. Wash the kale
2. Rip/chop it into chip size pieces
3. Put it in a bowl and drizzle olive oil on it and mix until they are all coated (it doesn't need to look like they are super coated, you will taste it...promise!)
4. sprinkle with sea salt
5. bake in the oven at 350 for about 10-15 minutes, or until nice and crispy!
6. sprinkle with cheese if you want, and let cool for just a few minutes
7. chomp away!


Kale is one of the healthiest vegetables out there. It is in the cruciferous vegetable family known to have excellent cancer fighting properties. Research suggests that these cruciferous vegetables contain a kind of phytochemical known as isothiocyanates, which stimulate our bodies to break down potential carcinogens. They work by preventing the transformation of normal healthy cells into cancerous cells. Pretty sweet, eh? Some other vegetables in this family are broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower and radishes. These are all really important to incorporate in our diets.

~Have you had kale chips before?

~Do you have other healthy vegetable creations that taste not so healthy?
I think all vegetables taste delicious...therefore, healthy and tasty always go together!

7 comments:

  1. I love chard. I just discovered it two years ago but love it. I'm going to try your kale chips. And I love your expression!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hah, funny picture! I love kale chips. There's a bunch of local vegetable stands that sell it for $1 a bag in the spring, so I can't wait until those open again.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am so glad you posted directions on how to make these! I hear so much about them, but I've never known how to make them. Thank you! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I haven't had them yet, but I was actually just looking up recipes yesterday!! I have half a bag of kale leftover from a soup I made last week that I need to use, and I think this is going to be the perfect use for it!:)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, I got so excited about kale chips I forgot to answer the second question!:) I love broccoli plain but I will sometimes make "dirty broccoli," which is just steamed broccoli tossed in an Italian breadcrumb/Parmesan cheese mixture. You toast the breadcrumb/Parm cheese mixture in a pan and then toss the steamed broccoli in it. It's pretty delicious!:)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I haven't tried kale yet! Can you believe it after my love affair with spinach/green monsters?!

    I am so trying these! I made sweet potato fries last night with a similar mixture!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have been using this in my smoothies! But I will totally try this recipe today!! Maybe my 20 month old will eat them. You need to put the link at the bottom of your posts so that people can instantly share them on facebook because this is a great one to post on facebook!! I'll try to anyway. Great great post!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...