Roasted kale

Serves 2 Preparation time 15 minutes Cooking time 25 minutes

Crispy kale “chips” are an easy way to use the excess kale in your garden to make tasty (and healthy) savoury snacks. Experiment with spices and seeds, but avoid adding any moist ingredients.

You need

• 6 large kale leaves • 1 teaspoon (5ml) olive oil • 2 tablespoons (30ml) finely

grated Parmesan cheese • ½ teaspoon (2,5ml)

garlic powder • ½ teaspoon (2,5ml) chilli powder or cayenne pepper • ¼ teaspoon (1,25ml) cumin powder • ¼ teaspoon (1,25ml)

salt flakes

This is how

Wash the kale thoroughly, making sure to rinse off any sand. Pat it dry, cut out the hard cores of the leaves and tear the rest of each leaf into large pieces. Place them in a salad spinner and turn it quickly until the kale is dry. Any moisture on it will make the chips chewy.

Heat the oven to 140ºC (with the fan on). Position an oven rack in the centre of the oven. Arrange the dry leaves on a baking tray. Pour the olive oil into the palms of your hands and work it through the leaves. Lighly massage the leaves so that the oil spreads through them thoroughly. Don’t add more oil – too much would keep the chips from becoming crisp. Combine the cheese, spices and salt, and sprinkle the mixture evenly over the leaves. Now spread the leaves out on the tray in a single layer – transfer some to a second tray if necessary. The leaves shouldn’t overlap.

Bake the chips for 15 minutes, turn the tray around and bake for a further 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the chips to cool down for 3 minutes so that they can crisp up. Enjoy immediately.