CHILLI LIME KALE CRISPS

Lo and behold—kale! A vegetable of near mystical powers, crammed full of calcium and vitamin K and C and a bunch of other stuff that I have no idea what actually is but that I’ve been lead to believe is really good for you. It's a few months since I was in Dublin and came across a bag of vegan spicy kale crisps in a local shop. At first I found the taste a bit unusual, but then I realised I wanted more of the flavour. You know, when you've finished chewing and swallowed and the taste starts to fade, it’s like your mouth starts missing it and you have to have another bite? Anyway, before I knew it the whole bag was gone and I had to go get more. 

These crisps aren't exactly like the ones I had in Dublin, but my batch disappeared just as quickly. These are tossed with olive oil and seasoning and then baked in the oven until crisp. The seasoning is a salt mix I'm also somewhat obsessed with these days. The below measurements will give you far too much for your kale, but don't worry, it pretty much goes on everything. I've been putting it on boiled eggs, baked potatoes, roast vegetables, popcorn--it adds a lovely bit of tang to just about everything.

Chili and lime kale crisps recipe (method adapted from Smitten Kitchen):

200 g kale (I used curly kale, but I’m sure any kale would do)
olive oil
4 tbsp flaky sea salt
zest from 1 lime
1 tsp dried coriander
1 tsp hot chilli powder (more or less, depending on how spicy you like it)
sunflower seeds (optional)

Directions: Preheat oven to 150⁰ celcius. Zest your lime into a bowl. Add salt and stir until evenly distributed.  Add coriander and chillipowder and mix. Rinse kale and remove the stems. My kale was already chopped but if yours is in larger pieces, you might want to chop or tear these to a more bite friendly size. Put kale in a bowl and toss with a splash of olive oil and the salt mix. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy clean up, and spread out a layer of kale. Leave in the oven for about 20 minutes. Take it out halfway through baking, stir and turn the tray around so the heat gets evenly distributed. Once baked, empty in a bowl and sprinkle on some sunflower seeds for extra crunch.