My son (who hasn’t yet tasted them, mind you), says cheesy kale chips look like something you would scrape off the bottom of a boat. Let me assure you – to try them is to LOVE them.
As my new favorite recipe, I make a double batch most weekends. And, with a little bit of mindfulness, I can make them last until Tuesday. I bring them to potlucks, make them for guests and visitors, share them with everyone…because they are so delicious!!
And, to expand on what I said: to taste them is to love them – and to want the recipe. Per my many requests, I have emailed the recipe, written it down on napkins at restaurants, scrawled it on the back of wet cardboard in the produce section at the local co-op. And now, for all of you who have asked, I am going to post it here so it is ever accessible:
Note: You do need these three important pieces of kitchen appliances for this recipe:
1. A dehydrator: I recommend the Excalibur 2900 Economy Series 9 Tray Food Dehydrator 
2. A high quality blender. You may give your regular blender a try. If so, to make it easier on a smaller blender, blend just half of the recipe at a time. If you are interested in a high quality blender (I use my blender for everything from smoothies to soups to sauces and every morning I blend a quart of vegetable to make delicious green drink that I sip on throughout the day), I recommend Vita-Mix 1700 Turbo Blend 4500
3. A friend. When you are up to your elbows mixing everything together, it is just a tad easier if someone is hanging around with a pair of clean hands to move the trays around. Not essential, of course, but definitely useful…and so much more fun! And, no, I have not included an Amazon.com link for a friend.
Cheesy Kale Chips
Ingredients:
2 bunches dinosaur kale
2 cups raw cashews, soaked for 2-4 hours
4 cups chopped red pepper
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1-2 lemons, juiced
Sea salt (to taste)
Directions:
1. Blend all the ingredients, except the kale, in the blender until smooth and creamy. I hold the cashews until everything else is well blended, then add them at the end. This helps maintain a nice creamy consistency without heating the blender or the ingredients.
2. Clean the kale and remove the center fibrous stem (I tried the recipe with the stem intact and it was touch chewing). Cut the kale leaves into 3-4 inch sections.
3. Place 1/2 of the cleaned kale in a large (really…a large) glass or ceramic bowl. Pour 1/2 of the sauce over the kale. Wash your hands! And dive in. Gently massage the kale until it is completely covered with cheesy sauce. Gentle is key. If you are too vigorous, the kale breaks down, becomes hard to handle, and makes crumblier chips.
A dear friend was visiting last month when I was on Step 3 of this recipe. She walked into the kitchen and showed very mild but polite interest in the project at hand. I had told her about my favorite new recipe but she wasn’t looking convinced. But…you know how the story ends…the next morning she wakes up to the smell of fresh kale chips and is amazed and awed at how delicious they are.
4. Place well-coated kale pieces onto the dehydrator’s mesh trays. Place them close together (because you just made a really big batch!), but don’t let them overlap. This step is great for the brain – like doing a jigsaw puzzle!
5. Set dehydrator on 105 degrees F for 12 hours or until chips are nice and crisp. The amount of “doneness” is subjective. They are “done” before you even dehydrate them, but are tastier after you have done so. If I am not planning on keeping them for any length of time, they don’t need to be completely dry and flaky. Taste them at various intervals and see what you like. Time also depends on how thickly coated the kale chips are, so varies from batch to batch. There is no “wrong” here. It is done when you say it is done.
Try it…and tell me what you think. Better yet, have your kids try it and tell me what they think!
Happy day-
Jess
P.S. There are many similar recipes on the web. I am unable to find an “original” source.
