Fantastic Super Bowl Snacks

Can you sneak kale into a Super Bowl Sunday party? Absolutely! Just don’t tell anyone. Catherine Walthers, author of the recent cookbook, Kale, Glorious Kale, has great recipes for adding everyone’s favorite leafy green into crowd-pleasing dishes.

Kale Guacamole adds a healthy twist to a yummy standard. This recipe combines diced avocado, tomato and finely chopped, massaged kale with a bit of heat and fresh lemon or lime juice. It tastes as good as it looks! Make this only an hour or two before serving so the avocado stays bright.

Serves 8 to 10

2 cups kale (stripped from stalk, torn into ¼-inch pieces, rinsed and dried)
2 tsp. olive oil
Salt
2–3 just-ripe avocados, pitted and cut into ¼-inch dice
1 cup tomato (seeded and cut into small dice)
2 Tbsp. minced red onion
4 tsp. fresh lemon or lime juice (or a combination)
½ tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. smoked paprika or cayenne pepper

• Place the kale in a medium-size bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and two pinches of salt and massage the kale by rubbing the oil onto the kale until it’s reduced in size a bit and glistening. If it releases moisture, soak it up with a paper towel. If the pieces are too large, chop again with a knife.
• Add the avocados, tomato, red onion, lemon juice, cumin, paprika and two more pinches of salt. Toss gently—it’s nice to keep the avocado separate rather than mashed together. Taste with a chip to make sure you have the right amount of salt and citrus. Place in a serving dish, surrounded by corn tortilla chips.

Replace standard potato chips with Maple-Sesame Kale Chips. Just a tad of sweetness from maple syrup and crunch from sesame seeds for this addictive healthy snack.

Makes 2 to 4 servings

5 cups kale (stripped from stalk, torn into pieces a little larger than bite-size, rinsed and dried)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 pinches salt
2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
3 Tbsp. sesame seeds

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place the kale in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil and salt. Massage kale with hands until all areas are covered and softened a bit. Mix in maple syrup, cayenne and sesame seeds. Most of the sesame seeds should stick to the leaves.
2. Place on a parchment paper–lined baking sheet. Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, mixing several times to prevent the outer edges from burning and to keep the kale pieces as separate as possible. Taste a piece while cooking and add an additional pinch of salt, if needed. Let cool on the baking sheet; the mixture should crisp up nicely.