I do a lot of driving. With three children, how can I not?
School, extra-curricular activities, shopping, outings, you name it – it seems
like I spend more time in my car than out of it. I don’t mind it, though. When
I’m alone in the car, I get to catch up on phone calls, conduct business and
sometimes even savor the luxury of just letting my mind wander.
It was on one of these occasions that a thought occurred to
me – I know that seeds grow into plants, but I couldn’t figure out if I’d ever
seen a sesame seed plant. So, I did some reading. It turns out that this tiny
seed was domesticated about 5000 years ago and exists in thousands of varieties,
most of them wild. You may be familiar with sesame seeds as a topping for
breads and hamburger buns, but they are used in numerous ways pretty much all
around the world. I even learned that the leaves of the sesame plant are edible
and can be cooked or eaten raw. I will definitely be on the hunt for some
sesame plants and recipes to use them in!
Sesame has one of the highest oil contents of any seed, and
because of its naturally occurring antioxidants, it is one of the most stable
vegetable oils, with a long shelf life. Sesame seed oil is rich in Omega 6
fatty acids and protein.
Remembering that I had a bottle of sesame oil in my kitchen,
I decided to put it to use. I made a batch of kale chips with garlic and sesame
oil, and, boy, was my family happy! It seemed that as soon as I had taken the
chips out of the oven, they were gone. Thankfully, they are easy to make and
take hardly any prep time at all, so I can crank them out often enough to keep
even my eager troop satisfied.
I highly recommend these chips as a much healthier
alternative to other salty snacks like potato chips and cheese puffs. If you
want directions on how to make Sesame and Garlic Kale Chips, just keep reading.
