No Salt and Vinegar Kale Chips
Day 14: I love these kale chips. My husband loves these kale chips. My baby loves these. Even my died-in-the-wool-New-Englander mother-in-law loves these. She went from ‘they sound terrible,’ to ‘they’re quite good.’
I have tried all kinds of kale chip recipes. I am not a fan of the cashew nut based ones you get in the supermarkets. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still eat them, but these ones are, by far, the most delicious I have ever made. They are courtesy of the wonderful Alissa Cohen and, again, her Raw Food for Everyone book. I have adjusted and adapted it: I put in a little less olive oil, a little less apple cider vinegar and I don’t bother with the tahini dressing. I keep the marinade and use it a second time. I prefer it second time around, as the flavours bite less. They taste like salt and vinegar crisps (US – chips)
I make two or three bunches at a time – they never last long in our house – but I’ll put the recipe for two bunches, as I have adapted from her recipe.
Ingredients:
2 bunches of kale, torn into pieces and stems removed2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/3 cup lemon juice (I use Santa Cruz Organic Lemon Juice)
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup Nama Shoyu (I use Braggs Liquid Aminos and/or Tamari. I mix it up, depending on what is in my larder)
1/2 olive oil – I use slightly less – somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2
Nutritional Yeast to taste (My addition)
Tip: Make sure your dehydrator trays are out and ready (or baking trays if you are going to use the oven). Your hands get sticky so it helps to get them out before you begin.
Put the kale leaves in a large bowl. Alissa says to soak the leaves in a bowl of cool water, swishing around to remove any sand or dirt. I have never done this! I run the leaves under running cold water, but I’ll do it her way, next time.
Add all the wet ingredients together, in another bowl, and whisk. Add the garlic. Whisk again.
Pour over the kale leaves. Massage into the kale. Add nutritional yeast, if you desire. When they are nice and coated, lay out on your trays. Try to leave space. I always get impatient, so I end up with my chips clumped together.
Dehydrate for about 6 hours at 105 degrees. I tend to set mine for overnight. In the oven, you could do 20 minutes at 300 degrees, and see if that works for you OR you could do a lower temperature and keep opening the door to release the heat. Let me know what works as I never use my oven to make these anymore, and I would love to hear from you.
I often sprinkle on a little more nutritional yeast, once they are out of the dehydrator. Then I put them into tupperware and keep them in the larder, where they don’t last for very long as we devour them.
NOTE: I only make these in a dehydrator so, if you bake these in the oven, could you post the temperature and time you use, below, please, because different folks use different methods. I posted the method my friend uses in her oven, but you may do something different, and I’d love to hear from you.