Kale Chips

[Deb Van D]

Sure. You really just toss them with a little (Tiny) bit of olive oil. It's not like deep-frying a starch.

 

And all that oil bakes off, anyway. That's the technical term, I believe. Bakes off.

[Rich]

Baby Arugula Chips with white pepper and truffle salt.

 

ETA - tomato chips - fire roasted plum tomatoes for a sauce. Skins removed in one piece (tomatoes cut in half lengthwise before roasting) and allowed to dry.

[Abbylovi]

Sure. You really just toss them with a little (Tiny) bit of olive oil. It's not like deep-frying a starch.

 

And all that oil bakes off, anyway. That's the technical term, I believe. Bakes off.

Exactly right. Bakes off.

 

Ali does something like this with greens on his mezze plate except he fries the greens. It's fantastic. Also if you've ever had the crispy watercress salad at Sripraphai, this is similar except since it isn't fried...I'm not gonna lie to you... it is not as good.

[prasantrin]

I don't know how to account for changes due to baking, but raw, 6 ounces of kale tossed with 1 tablespoon olive oil is 204 calories, 5.6 grams protein, 17 grams carbohydrates (including 3.4 grams fiber), and a whopping 14.7 grams fat. Tons of Vitamins A, C, and K.

 

1 ounce of Baked Lay's has 120 calories, 2 grams protein, 23 grams carbohydrates (2 grams fiber), and 2 grams of fat. Not nearly as high in vitamins.

 

I think baked kale wins in terms of being a healthful snack food, despite having much more fat.

[foodie52]

Huh? There's no fat in kale.

 

Is there?

[prasantrin]

Huh? There's no fat in kale.

 

Is there?

 

It's based on making the kale chips as posted on Smitten Kitchen which was linked in the first post. But I mis-transcribed and typed 1 tablespoon salt instead of 1 tablespoon olive oil (but I'll edit it now).

[Deb Van D]

Whatever the add-ins, 6 oz of raw kale isn't equal to 6 oz of baked kale, so that's Lost in Translation.

[flyfish]

I don't know how to account for changes due to baking, but raw, 6 ounces of kale tossed with 1 tablespoon olive oil is 204 calories, 5.6 grams protein, 17 grams carbohydrates (including 3.4 grams fiber), and a whopping 14.7 grams fat. Tons of Vitamins A, C, and K.

 

1 ounce of Baked Lay's has 120 calories, 2 grams protein, 23 grams carbohydrates (2 grams fiber), and 2 grams of fat. Not nearly as high in vitamins.

 

I think baked kale wins in terms of being a healthful snack food, despite having much more fat.

You're comparing 1 oz of Baked Lays to 6 oz of kale... is that a fair comparison?

[prasantrin]

I'm assuming 6oz of raw kale will reduce to 1oz baked kale. That's not too far off if you assume most of the water from the kale gets baked off. According to the USDA database, 67g of kale (1 cup chopped) contains 56.58g water (84.4% water), so if you've got 15.6% non-water material, 6 ounces of raw kale will end up as just under 1 ounce after it's baked (again, assuming all the water in the kale evaporates).

 

So I think comparing 1oz of kale chips and 1oz of potato chips should be fair, even when starting with 6oz of raw kale (though if comparing by volume, it's probably not fair).

 

But the data does not account for any reduction of the olive oil during baking since my recipe calculator doesn't do that. It just assumes you've got 6oz raw kale and 1 tablespoon olive oil. The program doesn't account for any loss of nutrients during the baking process, either, so I'm just assuming it's roughly the same as when raw (even though I know it's not). I could use the data for cooked kale, and that would allow for at least some of the changes in nutrients.

 

eta: and I thought it would be fairer to compare baked kale with baked potato chips rather than fried chips, so I used Lay's baked.

[backstory]

baked some and found them ok, not terrific. certainly as satisfying as potato chips. i made them in 2 batches, sprinkled sugar on one. those tasted quite good actually.