Kale Chips
I’m addicted to kale chips. Which is a pretty weird thing for me, since I’ve never particularly liked chips at all, much less what was sure to amount to a “healthy” chip replacement. But, when I saw them one day in the grocery store I figured I was game to try something new, and then got addicted. I got really addicted. Sadly, this is not a cheap addiction. Crack might be cheaper. Each package of chips costs $9. [Insert sad face here.] So, I did what any reasonable person would do and purchased a dehydrator and a crap-load of kale.
I stand by the decision. (Although, I really doubt I’m saving any money from the packaged chips. I’m just having too much fun to resent it.) The main reason I chose to go ahead and buy yet another kitchen tool is that I loved the purity of the flavors. Since dehydration applies minimal heat things stay in a pretty pristine form – with the flavors just intensifying.
The next thing I’m going to try is the dehydrated spinach dish I had at a thai restaurant in Montreal about a decade ago…
Cheesy Garlic
3 large bunches of kale
2 1/2c cashews
3/4c Nutritional yeast
1 red pepper
1/2c green onion tops
juice from 1/2 lime
1T garlic
1/2t cayenne
salt to taste
Soak cashews in warm water for a couple of hours. Drain water, reserving about a half cup. Process all of the ingredients (except for kale) in food processor, adding in water to thin it out a bit. You want the mixture to be kinda a slurry.
Wash and dry kale. Tear into chip sized pieces while removing kale stems. Toss in cashew mixture until all the pieces are coated like a well dressed salad. Dehydrate for 8 – 9 hours at 115°f. (I’ve been setting the thing up when I go to bed and then shutting it off when I get up in the morning or earlier if I just wake up, turn it off and go back to bed. Also, timing might be quite different if it wasn’t so humid out.) They’re done when you say they are.
The chips don’t hold well at all. I’ve tried everything the interwebs have suggested but have found that the best thing to do is just throw the chips in the dehydrator for a few minutes to completely crisp them back up.
But wait! There’s more you can try!
Ginger Peanut
3 large bunches of kale
2c natural peanut butter
3/4 c nutritonal yeast
1/2c green onion tops
juice from 1/2 lime
2t soy sauce
2T minced fresh ginger
salt to taste
Teriyaki
1/2c soy sauce
1/4c water
1/4c honey
2T sweet rice wine
juice from 1/2 lime
1/2c green onion tops
2t minced garlic
2t minced ginger
Salt & Vinegar
1/2c vanilla mango vinegar
3T oil
1 1/2t salt
