I first made this for my sister’s youngest son. He asked for roasted kale, which I had never heard of before. He said it was the only way he ate greens, and after a bit of research, a little fiddling, and a quick roasting, I understood why. This recipe (I dont even want to call it that – its just the alchemy of heat applied to greens) makes tough greens palatable to just about anyone – especially children or adults who just dont like vegetables! You need a tough green – kale is what I started with, but when my organic delivery guy said he had some mustard greens (we call it sawi hijau here in Malaysia), I wondered if you could do the same to any tough green leafy veg. Turns out you can, with stunning results!
To see which kind of greens you can use in this recipe, go to the Cook’s Thesaurus greens list.
You need a tough fibrous green leaf for the high heat of the oven. A little olive oil and some salt and pepper for seasoning creates something akin to a green chip – crispy, slightly burnt, very “green” tasting – totally delectable. And really, the whole process is completed in a matter of minutes. Its embarrassing to even give a recipe for this because its so easy, but believe me, once youve tried roasting one leafy green, you will be on the lookout for others to try!
You will need:
- 1 kg or so of a dense green – I used kale at first, and for this go round, used mustard greens or sawi hijau
- 1 tbsp of good olive oil
- A sprinkling of salt
Preheat your oven to 220C. You want it very hot. The greens wont stay in there that long, so dont worry. Pop a cookie tin in the oven while you prep the greens. You want it hot as the greens hit it.
Wash your greens very well, cutting out the tough stem. You can keep the stem and use for a soup or stir fry if you like. I usually like to salt my greens as I wash them to encourage any animal life to crawl off.
Rinse the greens, but dont worry if they still have a bit of water clinging to them. This will only enhance the cooking process.
Put the greens in a bowl, and sprinkle over the olive oil and the salt and pepper. Use your hands and make sure the greens are completely coated with oil. This is quite important.
Take the cookie tin out of the oven (please remember to use an oven mitt!) and spread the greens across the tin, covering completely. You can use tongs to do this if you like. You should hear them sizzle as they hit the hot tin.
Pop in the oven for about 10 minutes. After about five minutes, take them out, and using the tongs, just give them a little stir, flip them over, etc. Watch carefully after this because depending on your oven, you might want to take them out earlier. You want them crispy, green in spots, slightly burnt and brown in spots.
Take out of the oven and serve immediately.
Delicious!
delectable 
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