Chilli, garlic & sesame kale chips

It’s a bit of a cliché, but I got really into kale chips while living in Vancouver, where there’s a penchant for things of the healthy, hippy, handmade variety. Suffice to say, kale is big, and kale chips are the snack of choice. I’ll admit I was cynical at first, but once I’d felt the impossibly light, savoury shatter of one of these green crisps on my tongue, I forgot my British scepticism and started filling my repurposed cotton shopping bag with bunches of the stuff like everyone else. The trick to making these successfully is to make sure the kale is dry before you cook it, and to not use too much oil. Play around with how you season them: I sometimes like to add crushed roasted hazelnuts or cumin into the mix, but this is my basic recipe.

INGREDIENTS

200g kale, rinsed, dried, thick stems removed and leaves torn into crisp-sized pieces

1/2 tablespoon rapeseed or groundnut oil

2 teaspoons red chilli flakes

1 tablespoon garlic granules

1 tablespoon black and white sesame seeds

large pinch sea salt

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Toss the kale lightly in the oil, chilli, garlic, sesame seeds and salt, and arrange in one layer on baking trays or roasting tins: you’ll probably need to use more than one – you don’t want them to be crowded as then the kale won’t crisp up properly. Roast for 12–15 minutes, until crisp but still green rather than brown. Turn the oven off and leave them in the oven for 5 minutes, with the oven door closed, to cool and crisp up.

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