Three summers ago I was developing recipes for farm to table convenience foods — local non-GMO popcorn, pasta, potato chips, red pepper hummus, etc.   When I got to kale chips I found all kinds of recipes and I tried 4 of them. The best one used as little olive oil as possible and a low oven temperature.

I created my version of that recipe by adding grated parmesan and then I tested it with 4 different varieties of kale.  The winner was a variety called Nash — a pale dark green kale with a relentlessly curly edge. The taste of the kale by itself was very mild with no hint of cabbage and a hint of sweetness.  Ask your farmer’s market farmers what variety they grow and if you can’t find Nash I would look for a variety that has relatively thin and smooth leaves without thick ribs.

Kurt’s Parmesan Garlic Kale Chips

Infuse extra virgin olive oil (I use “California Olive Ranch” which is available in most supermarkets) with garlic by placing 3 or 4 smashed cloves in a small sauce pan with 2 oz of olive oil over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes. 

Pre heat oven to 290F and get a sheet pan or pizza pan ready to use.

Wash and dry your kale leaves.  I shake the water off and then pat them with a lint free towel or paper towels to remove as much water as possible from their surface.  Tear the leaves into chip sized pieces. You can leave the stems in unless they are large and woody.

Using your fingers coat each piece with olive oil being sure to get it up into the edges. Don’t drench the pieces. A thin coating works best, about 1 tsp of olive oil per sheet.

Pile the pieces into the middle of a sheet pan or pizza pan and grate parmesan on to them. Salt the pile before spreading the pieces out into one layer.

Bake at 290F for 10 minutes and then pull out the sheet and check them for doneness.  You want to try to catch them just as they go stiff and before the edges get brittle.  I like mine just a little chewy so it helps to get them before too much water is cooked out.

Flip the pieces if you want to and put them back in for another 2 minutes or until they have reached your target crispiness.  They will crisp a little after they come out and cool so pull them when they are just under your preferred texture.

Test one and add more salt, if needed, while they are still hot.  Likewise you can add more parmesan right after they come out and it will stick.

Enjoy.