January 20, 2011

Kale Snackers

Here's my take on Cheezy Earth Chips.  The orginal is great but I knew they could be easy to make and I thought it could use a little less coating and less intense yeast flavor.  I playing with the ingredient list, tweaked and found the flavor I liked best.

I used Coconut Secret Coconut Aminos to make them soy free but soy sauce or wheat-free tamari would work as well.  You may have to adjust the amount because I find the coconut aminos are less salty than even low sodium soy sauce.  Really I suggest tasting the coating before you dress your kale and adjusting to your taste.  This is a guideline recipe nothing hard and fast.  I just wish I had these back in college when I did awful things to industrial sized containers of goldfish crackers.  *shudder*

Kale Snackers
Makes 2-4 servings

2 bunches kale (lacinato/dinosaur works best)
4 tablespoons raw cashew butter
4 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
2 tablespoons coconut aminos (or slightly less soy sauce or tamari)
1/4 teaspoon dehydrated garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground tumeric
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or a good pinch of cayenne pepper)
1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt

-Remove the thick part of the stems from the kale and tear into large pieces.  Rinse well and spin or pat as dry as possible.
-In a large mixing bowl stir together the cashew butter, yeast, aminos, garlic, tumeric and pepper.
-Add the dried kale leaves and scrunch around with your hands to get them evenly coated.  Don't worry about crushing the kale too much.  It'll smash down some but dehydrate fine.
-Spread the coated kale on your dehydrator sheets in a fairly thin layer.  If you let it double up it will be fine but produce a thicker chip and take longer to dry.  Sprinkle over the flaky sea salt. 
-Dehydrate at 112 degrees F for 7 hours or 125 degrees F for 2-3 hours.  I haven't yet tried these in the oven, let me know if you do. 

I'm going to try a honey mustard version next.  Or maybe since I have the dehydrator out I'll whip up some BBQ Flax Crackers.