Cheesy Kale Green Chips

 Cheesy Kale Green Chips


Healthy and crunchy.

(add some tiny red tomatoes as garnish and make it festive!)
1/3 cup cashews, soaked 1-2 hours (optional)
2 Tbsp. lime juice
1 C water: this is to make it the right consistency to massage the mixture on the leaves. (If you like lots of dip on chips, use less water).
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp. Celtic Sea Salt
(or any good salt)
¼ cup nutritional yeast
¼ medium shallot or ½ small yellow onion (optional)
½ tsp. chili powder
Pinch cayenne
Pinch turmeric ( I use fresh, and more than a pinch)
4 cloves garlic (we like garlic)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Blend all ingredients well in Vitamix Blender.
Add enough water to make this mixture into a creamed soup texture and pour into low sided bowl.
Dip kale or collard leaves (or Amaranth or Swiss chard, be creative, but the curly kale holds the most sauce) in mixture and massage the mixture onto the leaves. Arrange them on dehydrator sheets. Dry them for
4-6 hours in dehydrator (until crispy). I dehydrate at low temperatures 105-110 degrees so that the enzymes remain intact and this takes up to 8 hours to dry them to a crispy state.

inspiration for these chips from:  Robyn Openshaw

These are utterly addictive and completely healthy. Better and tastier than chips and dip.
In a coastal climate you need to add a desiccant to a tightly closed tin to keep them crispy but if they loose their crisp just put them in the dehydrator or oven at the lowest possible temperature to crisp them up again.

Here are some different kale chip recipes from: Vanessa Nowitzky, a student of Victoria Boutenko
I haven't tried them yet, but here is what she says:
"These chips are so fabulous you will never want regular chips again. Dried kale is surprisingly filling-- these nutritious and rich chips are a meal unto themselves. Each of the following recipes uses about 1 head of green curly kale. Ruffles have ridges, therefore curly kale holds the flavor best. Don't use the woody stems. Tear large bite-sized pieces of the leaves into a large bowl and pour a sauce (recipes below) over the kale, massaging with your fingers until the kale is thoroughly saturated. Spread saturated kale pieces onto dehydrator trays with Teflon sheets and dehydrate at 105° for 12- 15 hours. The leaves shrink and should emerge crispy."

(NB..I like to use whole leaves when making these as appetizers. They are fun to nibble, using the central stem as a handle.)

Cheezy Kale Chips
This rich and flavorful chip is sure to please. Saturate kale in Pine Nut Cheeze Sauce:

• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1 large red or orange bell pepper, cut into pieces
• juice of half a lemon
• 1 - 2 Tablespoons of nutritional yeast

Grind pine nuts in food processor until crumbling into paste. Add bell pepper chunks, lemon juice and yeast, and grind until creamy. A little extra water may be necessary if the nuts don't blend in. Follow directions (above).

Hummus Kale Chips

• 1/2 cup sprouted pumpkin seeds
• optional: 1/4 cup sprouted sesame seeds
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 stalks green onion
• 2 stalks celery
• juice of one lemon
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon cayenne

Grind seeds well in coffee grinder. Chop all other ingredients and blend together in food processor. Follow directions (above).

Sesame Kale Chips

• 1 cup sprouted sesame seeds
• 2 medium plums (pitted, about ¾ cup chopped)
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 clove garlic
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 inch fresh ginger root, minced
• Cayenne to taste.

Grind sesame seeds in coffee grinder. Blend all other ingredients in food processor, finally adding ground sesame. Follow directions (above).

Fat Free Kale Chips
In the Vita-Mix, blend the following ingredients well without water (use the tamper):

• 1 medium small zucchini
• 1 large red, orange or yellow bell pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 stalks celery
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• dash of cayenne pepper or to taste. Follow directions (above).

Italian

This tomato and pesto flavored chip is made with Purple Curly Kale.

• 1 large Tomato
• 1 medium small yellow zucchini
• approx. 1 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1 large bunch fresh basil
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 cup chopped onion or leek 

I changed this recipe by adding a few tiny tomatoes and some wonderful dehydrated tomato slices, a green zucchini, doubled the garlic, freshly shelled pine nuts, more onion, 1/2 teaspoon of Celtic sea salt, added a jalapeno pepper and nutritional yeast (Making it a "cheezy" Italian, I guess). I also pulled the curly kale into bite size pieces away from the central stem, mostly to save space in the dehydrator but also making the "massaging" of the sauce into the kale easier and faster. Hmmmm.....I guess it's a different recipe now, as I seem to have changed every ingredient.
I like these spicy, tomato flavoured chips. I also like that they are torn into small pieces so they can be eaten like popcorn.....not as formal or beautiful as dipping and dehydrating the whole leaf, but still good. The cheesy kale chips, the first recipe, is still my favourite but variety, after all, is the spice of life.