I'm experimenting with Kale Chips and a dehydrator.

[MrMickeysMom]

I am fascinated so far with Kale Chips. This happened after I was introduced to them at a pot luck event where many people brought in recipes close to the bottom of the food chain.

I bought my dehydrator for Christmas and so far, I've made Kale chips twice. I would have taken a picture of the first batch, but my husband and I devoured them over a few days.

Has anyone else done this? I really am impressed, though I'm not too sure that I've saved much electricity with the dehydrator operation to do this. It takes a good 4 to 5 hours to get them nice and crispy. The oven proved too hot for what my goals are with the dehydrator.

Based on what you pay for these chips if you can find them at the grocery store, I know it's far less expensive to my own kale chips.

I'm sure I'll graduate to other veggies, but I'm loving it so far.

[Warpy]

1. I destem and chop kale coarsely

and dry it on a cookie sheet in a slow oven. The results are fantastic sprinkled over baked potato or eaten out of hand. It's kale for people who don't like kale.

[MrMickeysMom]

2. When I tried it in the oven, my temp went no lower than 175 F...

I can see where it would be fantastic over baked potatoes, and yes, I would normally not put kale on my vegetable list. However, it's right at the top of the nutritional scale.

Stems are more bitter, so I follow what you do for the dehydrator. Tonight it took a little less than 4 hours to do a bundle of kale.

[Warpy]

3. My oven will do 150 and it's even calibrated

which is why I cling to this ancient Monkey Ward stove instead of upgrading. The crunchy kale is also good out of hand. It's just really wonderful on baked potatoes.

I find most greens cooked into slimy slop unappealing, to say the least. Crunchy kale allows me to eat the champion of all of them and enjoy it.

[MrMickeysMom]

6. Monkey Ward...

I have a Monkey Ward small refrigerator STILL operating down in our rec room. It was our fridge when we lived in FL before we bought a "real fridge". That was early 1982… It's still ticking!!!

Good ole Montgomery Ward brand!

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. What a great idea...

how low oven temp
and how long ( roughly) does it take??

I have a friend with an enormous garden, she keeps bringin kale over, I gotta do the drying thing.

[Warpy]

11. Since it's more a drying process than a cooking process,

I set my oven at 150F. Other ovens have a "warm" setting and that will do, too. I live in the desert, so my times would be a lot faster than yours. Just check it every 15 minutes or so when you give it a stir to make sure it's all exposed to heat.

[Lucinda]

4. I love them too! I toss mine with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic, seasalt, and pepper

they are also good with a little turmeric in the mix.

[MrMickeysMom]

5. Hmmmm turmeric...

I'll try that next. It won't be long, as this stuff doesn't last long. Amazing to watch the "shrinkage" while it's dehydrating.

I also use kosher salt. I guess seasalt is less flakey and more noticed on the "chip"???

[Lucinda]

8. Depends on the grind of the seasalt...mine now is chunky

i've used kosher too!

[cbayer]

7. I've made them in the oven.

And I have burned them almost every time, so I think that might be the advantage of the dehydrator.

Edited to add:

I had a dehydrator for a few years and liked it. I did all kinds of fruit and some meats. I was doing a lot of camping at the time and loved it.

[MrMickeysMom]

9. So, here are my cheesy kale chips ...

My tweaked version of "Veg Daily" blog's recipe -

1 large bunch curly kale (4 or so cups torn leaves)
1 cup cashew pieces, high powered blender - almost powdery consistency
Juice of 3/4 lemon (~4 Tbs.)
~ cup of filtered water
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt (or to taste)
Dash of cayenne pepper

1. Begin with unwashed kale. Trim the toughest part of the kale stems, and cut or tear leaves into bite-size pieces. Fill a large bowl with water and place kale pieces in water. Swish the kale around so that any debris floats to the top. Drain, and dry completely in a salad spinner or with towels. Once dry, place kale pieces in a large bowl with enough room for mixing the kale with the cheese sauce.

2. To make cheese sauce: combine blended cashews, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, kosher salt; and cayenne pepper and blend until smooth paste (adjust water).

3. Combine cheese sauce and kale pieces, and use your hands to massage kale with sauce. (It’s fine if coating is uneven or if there are big globs of cashew cheese.

4. Layer this in dehydrator and dry about 4 hours.