Kale chips (vegan)

Sorry it's been a while. I have been cooking up a storm and have a few items up my sleeve to tell you about over the next week or two. Today, I'd like to share my triumph with making Kale chips.

First of all, please don't assume that just because you don't know what kale is, or because you don't like "green stuff" that you won't like this. Au contraire my friend.

All about kale

Kale is a gorgeous leafy green veggie that is packed with tons of goodness. You can chop it and eat it raw in something like cole slaw (it's chewy, and rigid rather than soft and floppy like boston lettuce for instance) steam it, or add it to a stir fry or soup right at the last minute. The longer you cook something, the more you reduce its nutritional value. That's one of the reasons why either eating it raw, or cooking it very quickly, or at very low temperatures is ideal (really, that's the ideal way to eat any produce). This recipe calls for a temperature of 200 degrees. If you want to maintain a "raw"state you should keep to less than 180 degrees so that it "dehydrates" more than "cooks" but at 200 degrees you're still doing okay. See how low your oven will go...

Kale is an anti-oxidant powerhouse, strongly anti-inflammatory (illness equals inflammation, so anything anti-inflammatory that you can add into your diet will help combat illness) and is very high in vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium and iron.

So, on to the recipe.

Cheezy kale chips

Ingredients:
1 bunch of organic* kale
1/2 cup raw cashews
1 large garlic clove or two small
2 TB nutritional yeast
1/2 red bell pepper
1 TB maple syrup
1 TB apple cider vinegar
1 tsp paprika
salt and pepper (I did about 3 cranks on mine)
*Greens are one of the fruits and veggies that become most contaminated by pesticides (i.e. you cannot wash it off). Go organic with greens if you can.


Directions

1. Soak the cashews in warm water and set aside while you work on everything else. If you can soak in advance, this recipe will be easier to make (2 hours is probably ideal). 
2. Wash the kale carefully as it can trap dirt in its many folds. Remove the tough spines and tear the leaves into bite sized pieces. 
3. Spin in a salad spinner to really dry the leaves then dump them into a big wide bowl.
4. In your blender- combine cashews (drained), nutritional yeast, garlic, red pepper, paprika, salt, pepper, maple syrup and cider vinegar.
5. You will have to blend then scrape down the sides a bazillion times before this blended properly. The longer you soaked the cashews, the less scrape downs you'll need. But trust me- eventually, the mixture will combine and look like really chunky peanut butter.
6. Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees (or less if desired).
7. Pour the mixture, a third at a time, on the kale and use your hands to coat all the leaves.
8. Prepare two or three sheet pans lined with parchment paper. Separate the prepared kale onto each pan trying not to bunch it up. If it is all separated, it will dry quicker than if left in piles. 
9. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, then flip all the leaves. Repeat this process until they are dried out. It took me three times (roughly an hour) to get them all dry and crispy. They will get to the point where they are very fragile and can be crushed to flakes. That's when they are EXQUISITE. :)

Enjoy!!!!

Kale chips (vegan)