Mr. McNeedham's Garden

Once upon a time, a man built 3 large garden boxes for his wife. He filled them with good soil, seeds and seedlings, and gave them lots of water and attention. The wife was very happy, and so was the husband.



Every day the man went out to the garden and watered it well. Petra Rabbit and her sisters stayed far, far away, because of the cats Mama, Kebo and Cali, who patrolled it with great enthusiasm. The spring was unusually warm with plenty of sun, and so the garden grew and grew. The wife was happy, and so was the husband.



Every day, it was more of the same....sun and water, sun and water. The seeds sprouted, the flowers blossomed and the garden grew and grew. The wife was happy, and so was the husband.



Suddenly, in the beginning of July, the garden was so big! And it kept growing and growing and growing. And still there was more sun and warm air. The neighbors all came over to admire the garden, and said that they had never seen anything like it!

It is true that the wife was still happy, but she became worried that she wouldn't be able to eat all the kale. And she became cross that the crook-neck squash turned out to be zucchini (she hates zucchini).

So luckily, her lovely daughter and daughter-in-law came over to lend their assistance.




They picked a huge bag of kale (and also some of that evil zucchini) and took it to their house to make kale chips.

First they washed it well, and tore it into bite sized pieces, removing any thick stems.



Then they tossed it in a splash of olive oil, and sprinkled it with sea salt.




Finally they placed all the coated leaves on a large baking sheet, and baked them at 325 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, until the leaves were crisp...like a chip!




The wife was less worried when she realized that so much kale could be used up this way. And also excited that the chips were so delicious and nutritious. And it should be mentioned that she very much enjoyed the zucchini crostada that her daughter-in-law made (even though she hates zucchini). But...that's another story.

The end.

Kale Chips

Prep time: 5 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes
Yield: serves 4 as an appetizer

Ingredients:

2-3 bunches of kale, washed, stemmed and torn into bite-sized pieces
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon of sea salt (or to taste)

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

2. Toss the kale with the olive oil in a large bowl.

3. Place on 2 baking sheets and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the leaves are crisp and beginning to turn golden. Serve immediately, or at room temperature.