Kale chips recipe: tasty, nutritious, and easy to bake—is it possible?

If one of your New Year's resolutions is to improve your diet and eat more greens, would you believe me if I said the solution is snacking on kale?

Before I get into details, kale—for readers unfamiliar with the dark green leafy vegetable—has been touted by nutritionists and health-food enthusiasts for its nutritional content. When considering or comparing your other snacking options, you might want to consider this: it's low in saturated fat and cholesterol, and a good source of dietary fibre, protiein (about 2.2 grams per cup), omega-3 and omega-6, plus numerous vitamins and nutrients: thiamin, riboflavin, folate, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus; calcium, potassium, copper, and manganese; and vitamins A, C, K, and B6.

Phew! Talk about a mouthful.

The problem is, many people don't like the taste of kale, describing it as bitter or disagreeable.

However, there's not only a delectable answer, but one that's shockingly simple to make. Tasty, easy, and nutritious? Is it possible?

Apparently it is: kale chips.

While they're not necessarily new, they have become quite a trend over the past year or so. If you haven't gotten around to making them, perhaps 2012 will be the year that you do.

While they're called chips, and some describe it as tasting akin to potato chips, it reminds me more of dried or roasted seaweed.

Numerous recipes abound on the internet, with endless variations.

I use the following basic recipe, which I've adapted from several recipes.

Ingredients:
one bunch of kale
1 tbsp olive oil
salt, pepper, and/or sesame seeds (optional)

Preheat your oven to about 175 degrees C (350 degrees F).

Wash the leaves and dry. Remove the leaves from the stems and break them into chip-sized pieces. Place them on to a cookie tray (some recipes recommend lining it with parchment paper). Drizzle about one tablespoon of olive oil over the leaves. Some optional seasonings include salt, pepper, and/or sesame seeds.

Bake for about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat when edges start to brown. (Leaves should be crispy but not burnt.)

Some recipes even incorporate soy sauce, nut butter, garlic, ginger, chili flakes, parmesan, lemon, and more.

You may have to test out different variations to see what works best for you, in terms of cooking time as well as ingredients. But starting with a plain recipe first is probably best.

So now, instead of being a couch potato, you can be a couch vegetable. (The next step, of course, will be to actually get off the couch. But that's another story.)

You can follow Craig Takeuchi on Twitter at twitter.com/cinecraig.