This week, I was cooking a vegan meal for my visiting sister when I needed a last minute pre-dinner snack to tide us over. I remembered someone mentioning having kale chips seasoned with chili and lime, so I gave it a go. I added lime juice and zest to my usual recipe along with a generous heaping of chili powder. The result was tangy and spicy and pretty addictive.

I have found that one of the keys to truly crispy kale chips is to fully dry your greens before tossing them with the oil and seasonings. I use a salad spinner, but giving them a really good shake and laying them out on towels to air dry would work as well. Happy snacking!

Chili Lime Kale Chips

1 bunch curly or lacinto kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
juice of 1/2 lime
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt (depends on the saltiness of your chili powder)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Tear off chip-sized pieces of the kale from the stems. Compost stems and thoroughly wash and dry the leaves. Toss with olive oil, lime juice, zest, chili powder. Use your hands to make sure the leaves are thoroughly and evenly coated. Taste and decide if it needs additional salt. Spread leaves out on two parchment-lined cookie sheets. Bake for 20 minutes, switching and rotating pans after 10 minutes.

—SCB

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