# Kale Chips CANNOT Replace Potato Chips **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 8, 2017, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-chips-cannot-replace-potato-chips/779326 "2017-02-08T14:51:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-chips-cannot-replace-potato-chips/779326/41 "2017-02-19T23:30:00Z")
Kale chips are like cow chips. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-chips-cannot-replace-potato-chips/779326/42 "2017-02-20T02:43:57Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Good God! A recipe I might actually be able to follow! (I can just barely boil water!) Enjoy! This thread inspired me to bake up a big batch of kale chips this evening, with balsamic vinaigrette flavoring, and I’m crunching the last of them as I type. Crunchy crumbly bitter balsamicy goodness. Mmm. I should have pointed out that if you don’t want to mix salt into the flavored/unflavored oil you rub on the kale pieces, you can salt them after they’re spread out on the baking tray. > [@Trinopus](#): > > My next stupid question: does this process work with other veggies? Like, really thin flat bits of carrot, or flat leaves of lettuce, or even thin apple slices? You can definitely “chip-ify” any other strong leafy green exactly the same way as kale: collard greens, mustard greens, chard, etc. I have read that leaf lettuce works too, but I haven’t tried it myself (mostly since I will snarf down lettuce in raw form much more readily than I will bother with cooking it). And [the internet sez](http://www.popsugar.com/fitness/Carrot-Chips-Recipe-34719564) that you can indeed make carrot chips in the same way. (Peel and slice them diagonally and very thinly before oiling, salting and baking.) Apple chips I would be inclined to buy if I wanted them, rather than making at home (although as with lettuce, by the time I’m done eating raw apples there would be none left to bake). They probably hold up much better in commercial processing and packaging than leaf-chips do. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-chips-cannot-replace-potato-chips/779326/43 "2017-02-21T19:04:18Z")
Kale chips are gross. Kale tastes like shit, but it IS highly nutritious. It’s best use, IMO, is as a vitamin source for smoothies…provided enough fruit is added to the blend to mask the shitty taste. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-chips-cannot-replace-potato-chips/779326/44 "2017-02-21T19:46:49Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Kale chips are gross. Kale tastes like shit, but it IS highly nutritious. It’s best use, IMO, is as a vitamin source for smoothies…provided enough fruit is added to the blend to mask the shitty taste. not that there’s anything wrong with kale, but what does it do that spinach doesn’t? ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-chips-cannot-replace-potato-chips/779326/45 "2017-02-21T19:48:09Z")
> [@Azeotrope](#): > > They haven’t figured out yet that potatoes are vegetables? they may also be anti-junk-food. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-chips-cannot-replace-potato-chips/779326/46 "2017-02-21T20:12:52Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > not that there’s anything wrong with kale, but what does it do that spinach doesn’t? Thank you! Or Swiss Chard! My wife was buying into this kale thing 2 years ago. I tried it. It’s terrible. I asked, “why is this nutritionally better than Swiss Chard?” (which I do enjoy) and it turns out it isn’t! ---
**Author:** ![quimper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7c8e57/32.png) [@quimper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quimper)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-chips-cannot-replace-potato-chips/779326/47 "2017-02-21T20:31:01Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > Thank you! Or Swiss Chard! > > My wife was buying into this kale thing 2 years ago. I tried it. It’s terrible. > > I asked, “why is this nutritionally better than Swiss Chard?” (which I do enjoy) and it turns out it isn’t! It’s all about the anti-oxidants found in cruciferous vegetables, glucosinolates. These have potent anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects. Eating too many raw cruciferous vegetables has the side effect of suppressing thyroid function so moderation (and proper cooking) is key. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-chips-cannot-replace-potato-chips/779326/48 "2017-02-21T20:32:32Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > Thank you! Or Swiss Chard! > > My wife was buying into this kale thing 2 years ago. I tried it. It’s terrible. > > I asked, “why is this nutritionally better than Swiss Chard?” (which I do enjoy) and it turns out it isn’t! there’s nothing wrong with it. when I hit the salad bar at work about 1/3 of it is kale. I just don’t get what makes it a “superfood” over and above any of the other _Brassica Oleracea_ cultivars. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-chips-cannot-replace-potato-chips/779326/49 "2017-02-21T20:35:41Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > there’s nothing wrong with it. when I hit the salad bar at work about 1/3 of it is kale. **I just don’t get what makes it a “superfood”** over and above any of the other _Brassica Oleracea_ cultivars. Sales of previous “superfoods” were dropping. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-chips-cannot-replace-potato-chips/779326/50 "2017-02-21T21:07:17Z")
Kale wins out nutritonally by a hair according to this here: [http://skipthepie.org/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/kale-raw/compared-to/chard-swiss-raw/](http://skipthepie.org/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/kale-raw/compared-to/chard-swiss-raw/) But the flavor differences probably more than make up for it. Swiss chard and kale probably cost close to the same too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-chips-cannot-replace-potato-chips/779326.md?page=2)