Garlic Salt Kale Chips

A bunch of kale, a little oil and salt, and 20-some minutes in the oven turn into something crisp and salty you can reach for any time. Kale earns its place here on its own merits, a whole food doing real work.

Kale is a leafy green and a source of fiber and vitamin K, and the fiber feeds a healthier gut community while the green is the kind of plant density a body managing Autoimmunity benefits from. Roasting it gently keeps it light enough to eat by the handful, which is exactly the point.

Before you bake, take a moment to wash and dry the leaves with care. This is a whole food becoming something better with almost nothing added. When the chips come out dark green and crisp, look at them, smell the garlic and salt, and eat them slowly. A snack eaten with presence still counts as nourishment.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound kale, chopped, stems removed
• 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (omit for low-FODMAP)
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt

The source recipe is already AIP-friendly as written, so nothing needed swapping. The only change is to omit the garlic powder if you are eating low-FODMAP; the salt and the roasting carry plenty of flavor on their own.

Method

• Heat the oven to 300F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
• In a bowl, toss the chopped kale with the coconut oil, garlic powder, and salt until every leaf is lightly coated.
• Spread the kale in a single layer on the parchment, giving the pieces room so they crisp rather than steam.
• Bake 20 to 30 minutes, stirring once about halfway through, until the leaves are crisp and dark green with lightly browned edges. Watch the last few minutes, since the thin edges go from crisp to burnt quickly.

Air fryer variation

Air-fry at about 300F for roughly 4 to 5 minutes, working in batches so the basket is not crowded, and shake or check at the halfway point. Kale is light and moves around, so a small batch crisps more evenly than a full one. Pull it the moment it turns crisp, as the leaves brown fast at this thinness.

*Adapted from acleanplate.com*