Cheesy chili kale chips
Cheesy chili kale chips
I use sunflower seeds instead of cashews for this cheesy coating and flavour it with gochugaru, the Korean chili powder used in kimchee. I like using a dehydrator instead of the oven. It is easier to control how they crisp up, but best of all, you keep all the nutrients intact
Yields: 4 snack size servings
Ingredients
1 large bunch of kale – washed with stems removed
1 cup raw sunflower seeds - soaked, drained and rinsed[i]
1 cup water for soaking sunflower seeds
¾ cup of water for cheese sauce
¼ cup nutritional yeast
3 teaspoons Korean chili powder – reduce if you are not fond of heat
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon pink salt
Steps
Wash and dry kale. Remove the stems and rip kale into large chunks – place in a large bowl. Remember they will shrink a bit when dehydrated.
Soak sunflower seeds for 4 to 6 hours. Drain and rinse seeds. Pour them into a high-speed blender with remaining ingredients. Blend until creamy. You want the cheese to be thick enough to stick to the kale.
Pour the cheese over the kale leaves. Use your hands to make sure each piece of kale is well coated. Lay them well-spaced on silicone dehydrator sheet or parchment paper. Dehydrate for 6 to 8 hours. The length depends on the moisture content of your kale. The beauty with this method is you can’t burn the chips and they don’t lose any of their nutritional value while cooking.
If you want to use an oven – preheat your oven to 275 F. Bake for approximately 10 minutes, rotate the pan and bake another 10 – 15 minutes. You have to watch them closely because the cooking time depends on the moisture content of the kale. Let them cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, before enjoying.
[i] I soak all my nuts and seeds. It removes the enzyme inhibitors making them easier to digest.
