Raw Food: Kale Chips 9 Ways!
Until yesterday, I had never created a raw food recipe for kale chips. I couldn’t bring myself to take a veggie that I consider a bit bitter and try to turn it into something yummy. My friend, Joanna kept insisting that they were fab so I decided to give it a whirl. They turned out better than I could have hoped for. Which is great because Kale is incredibly healthy.
Kale, which is actually a form of cabbage, is loaded with fiber. One cup of kale provides you with twice your daily requirement of vitamin A, tons of vitamin C and has over a thousand times the RDA for vitamin K! Kale helps keep your body strong and also helps prevent damage from other forces that are constantly attacking our bodies.
Kale is full of fiber and phytonutrients. It produces sulforaphane which is a natural cancer-fighter that signals the liver to produce cancer fighting enzymes. Kale has high amounts of carotenoids that protect your eyes from ultraviolet light and other major issues. It even helps prevent cataracts.
There are many different kinds of kale out there. I wanted to know how each one tasted, and how it adapted to different recipes. I bought dinosaur kale, purple kale and green kale. Then I came up with three different recipes. So, we have 9 different outcomes.
For the first batch I simply used olive oil and salt. For the second batch, I added garlic and thyme. The third batch, one of my favorites, is a spicy combination of chipotle and smoked paprika combined with some nutritional yeast, cashews and garlic. I think this hot version is my favorite.
The difference between the kale, after all was said and done was negligible. The dinosaur kale has a flatter shape and kept that through dehydration but the curly kale was fine and actually held a little more of the flavor mixture.The taste was pretty much the same for all. You can go very easy on the olive oil. They dehydrate very quickly (4-5 hours) so, start them early in the day and you will have a great snack for later. My biggest challenge with these was to not eat them all before I got the picture taken! Make a lot as they dehydrate down quite a bit.
Kale Chips
For all versions: wash and spin dry 2 bunches kale. Remove the tough spine and tear into bite size pieces, keeping in mind that they will shrink in size as they dehydrate.
Dinosaur Kale
Green Kale
Purple Kale
Kale Chips Three Ways
Version One
- 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
Combine olive oil and sea salt in large bowl. Stir in kale and coat. Place on dehydrator sheets and dehydrate at 115 for 4-6 hours or until crisp.
Version Two
- 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- 1 teaspoon Thyme
With food processor running, drop garlic in. It will mince. Add oil and thyme. Place mixture in bowl and follow directions above.
Version Three
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 cup Cashews, soaked at least 8 hours, rinsed and drained
- 1/4 cup Nutritional Yeast*
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon Chipotle (spice)
- Pinch Sea Salt
With processor running, drop in garlic and mince. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth. Pour over kale chips in a bowl and massage until kale is coated. Dehydrate on screens at 115 for 4-6 hours or until crisp. *Nutritional yeast is not raw but used frequently in raw food recipes.
raelynn noel wrote on July 25, 2011
can you make them with Collard greens too?
Susan wrote on July 26, 2011
I have not tried that so I am not sure. I used mustard greens once and the flavor was a bit strong.
jean.bean wrote on July 18, 2011
happy yall are finding out about raw foods and new recipes!
as a raw food chef i cannot help but share what i know about food nutrition and raw food.
the olive oil you are using is much better than what most of our former diets consisted of, especially if you are truly do it all raw n using raw e.v.o.o…in the long run oils of any kind slow down your metabolism and actually get in the way of your digestion.
unless you are spending an arm and a leg on truly raw cashews you are not eating raw cashews.
please all do more research the more you get into raw foods, this is new territory and there is alot of information out there, some good, some not. and remember EVERYBODY is DIFFERENT.
hope this helps someone
with <3
Susan wrote on July 18, 2011
Jean…you might want to take a look around the site. I talk at length about nuts and finding truly raw nuts, etc. I am not new to this, have done extensive research and speak at length about biochemical diversity…or as you say, everybody is different. This site is not about being 100% raw. It is about incorporating more raw food into your life. We welcome everyone here whether they eat 12 steaks a day or are 100% raw. Have a look around the site, read some of the articles. You will quickly see what it is all about. 🙂
Spicey Mary Jane wrote on July 14, 2011
I live in Bali, and, although I am growing a little kale, what I have in abundance is kailan and broccoli leaves. Has anyone tried “chips” out of these?
Regina H wrote on July 12, 2011
Do you think I can sub cashews for soaked sunflower seeds? I know it’s a bit odd, but I currently have an abundance of them and don’t think it would taste half bad. I’ve had awesome sunflower seed butter before…
Susan wrote on July 12, 2011
Do you mean sunflower seeds for the cashews?
Bertha wrote on June 17, 2011
I just made some Kale Chips. I changed your recipe a little bit. I used cashews, nutritional yeast, water, agave, dried onions, sweet basil, dehydrated red bell peppers, paprika and Vital Heat Raw Hot Pepper Chipotle Sauce. They taste wonderful!
Rosanna wrote on May 4, 2011
i love kale chips! i make mine with a little bit of fresh lime juice, garlic, olive oil, sea salt and cayenne pepper….im mexican, so the lime and spiciness really appeal to me!
Aria Nicole wrote on February 3, 2011
I absolutely LOVE kale chips. I make them all the time and also use a food dehydrator. I can speak from experience that kale cips made in the oven do not come out as good. Some will be scorched while others soggy…the kale doesn’t dehydrate evenly. And in the oven u’re really not dehydrating, u’re baking which defeats the purpose of having a raw healthy snack. Also I have kept kale chips in and airtight glass canister for about month they were still as tasty as they were when I first made them. You can purchase a really good deyhrator for about 60 bucks or less depending on where you go. And you can make all kinds of delicious snacks!!!
I’m going to try the spicy kale chips Susan, thanks for sharing!!! 🙂
Ben Eriksen wrote on January 30, 2011
The last recipe was soo tasty as is – so with the kale that didnt fit into the dehydrator I made it into a salad, added some tomatoes, voila! Spicy Smokey Dressing 🙂
Susan wrote on October 5, 2010
I use about a bunch or 5 cups chopped or torn?