Recipe: Crunchy Kale

AKA how to get your 4-almost 5 year old to eat something green!!

When it comes to eating at our house, my 7 year old daughter, Magda wins the prize, hands-down, for being the most adventurous eater.  Absolutely no contest.  At 2 years old, her favorite dish was Saag Paneer.  As she has gotten older--not only has she tried everything she has been offered, (more or less) she LOVES everything she has been offered!!

Pad Thai: can't get enough; veggie bibimbop or kimchi, bring it!...curries, sushi, souffles, artichokes, any veg roasted, pestos, Mexican mole sauce, nopales, anchovies on pizza...(ok, maybe not so crazy about anchovies!) Anything we throw it at her (not literally); she eats...even more crazy for a little kid...she enjoys it!

Luca, our son, on the other hand...not so much.  If its yellow (cheddar cheese & eggs) and brown (whole wheat flour tortillas) or white (pasta); he will eat it--no prob....but if there is even a speck of green...forget it; he can go into an over-the-top, tantrum mode quicker than you can say:

Quesadilla...

OR

 Mac and Cheese..

which is about all he will eat--willingly...

Then we discovered a recipe for CRUNCHY KALE...and suddenly, everything we thought we knew--was wrong...Up was down, right was left, Luca was eating something green...willingly and we started seeing double....But now, that the shock has worn off, I am willing to bet that if you have a picky eater at home, this magic trick--to get them to eat something green--will work on them too...

Its really easy and I am sure you have heard of it by now...It's Crunchy Kale.

My wonderful, lovely, grocery shopping, prop stylist husband picked up some Kale for me this weekend.  He thought this Red Kale was prettier (and would make for better photos) than the kind the recipe calls for which is Tuscan Kale or Cavolo Nero...black Kale.  Its not as pretty, but it does work well for this recipe, especially if you want to roast it whole-leaf...its very fun to munch it that way.  But, really ANY kind of Kale works great for this...if your store only has one kind, just try it...no biggie.

So, easy...pre-heat oven to 250 degrees.  The deal with this recipe is LOW AND SLOW!

Chop up your Kale OR in the case of the Italian kind--leave it whole! and toss with some good olive oil and sea salt.  Not too much of either...just a bit...you can add more salt if necessary once its done cooking.

Roast in oven for 30-35 minutes until nice and crispy...may take a little bit more time; too much olive oil can make it soggy.  Once out the oven, let cool down a bit and then...

Prepare to be amazed...

Yes, that is our son eating something with actual nutritional value.  I am so proud--I think I am actually  bursting mental buttons!  When all cooked up, its not much to look at, but with that wonderful CRUNCH, its the perfect vehicle for salty goodness and a plate of this stuff does not last long in our house.   Honestly, it just kind of disappears...we don't have to force anyone to eat it--they just do.  Not to mention, its really fun to eat.

But the VERY best part is that they have no idea how really good it actually is for them!!

 HA! HA! : )

so awesome!!