Monday, January 7, 2013

Kale Chips

Kale Chips pg. 255
Kale Chips
I made an investment today.  Yes, I bought a dehydrator.  It was very exciting.  It was exactly what I never knew I always wanted! My nephew bought a dehydrator about a year ago, and all I could think of was why?  Obviously, I just needed more vision, or Crazy Sexy Kitchen to help me see the possibilities.

The dehydrator I bought sort of confused me initially.   I purchased a Nesco dehydrator.  It came with 4 trays and one plastic liner tray.  If you are new to dehydrating like me you might wonder what do I do with one liner tray?  Not sure why they don't just charge you a bit more and put enough in the kit.  Instead I had to buy more liners for my shelves.  I didn't feel like waiting for my other liners to arrive from Amazon so I just used parchment paper to line the shelves of my dehydrator.  This just keeps the shelves from getting all caked with whatever you are dehydrating.  Basically, it makes for an easier clean up.
Kale Chips were what I decided to dehydrate first.  I have tried Kale Chips that come pre-packed at Whole Foods.  I didn't really care for them.  They had a bit of an aftertaste for me.  So I wasn't expecting to love the Kale Chips from CSK.  I was so pleasantly surprised.  When they came out of the dehydrator warm they were awesome!

I knew right then I was going to really like these Kale Chips. The cashew, garlic and onion powder that coats the chips is so yummy.  I stored them in airtight Tupperware, and they were just as good the next day.  My chips took about 8 hours to dry.  The recipe said 13 hours.  Not sure why mine were done so fast?  I was also a bit rebellious and lined all my shelves with kale, but the recipe suggested skipping shelevs in order to not crush your chips.  It was fine so go ahead and line away!  You are going to want a bunch to snack on!

4 comments:

  1. I was wondering how these would be. I have had the pre-packaged ones from Trader Joe's and was not too impressed. I may try this recipe. Thanks!

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    1. They were very good. I was pleasantly surprised! A friend of mine also mentioned if you don't have a dehydrator, that the oven works as well for Kale Chips too.

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  2. Congrats on the new dehydrator! I think you'll find it was definitely a worthwhile purchase.
    If you'd like some new ways to put it to good use (including a whole chapter of creative kale chip recipes), you might check out my cookbook, Practically Raw! http://bit.ly/PracticallyRaw
    Really enjoying reading about your project of cooking your way through CSK! Great idea for a blog. :)

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  3. Thank you! I will definitely check out your cookbook. Homemade kale chips rock!

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