Kale Crisps - Chipotle "Chedda"

[thewyrdwoman]

OMG, I love kale crisps!  I forgot how much I love them until I made another batch this week.  This time I used my "Betta-than-Chedda" sauce & a little chipotle powder - wow!  Yum!  The sauce recipe is from a raw vegan website I frequented some years back that I unfortunately cannot now remember and thus cannot give proper credit.  Anyway, sub'ed out the Bragg's for coconut aminos to be compliant; it is pretty darn tasty sauce for a switchup now & then:

 

Betta Than Chedda Sauce

1 cup cashews, almonds or sunflower seeds (macadamias are my usual)
½ large bell pepper red ripe
½ cup water (adjust water to thin/thicken)
2 tbl lemon juice
2 tbl nutritional yeast
1 tbl tahini
1 tbl Coconut Aminos
1 ½ tsp salt
1 clove garlic
2 tsp onion powder or small slice raw or 1 tbl green onion minced
pinch turmeric

Blend nuts, water & lemon juice until creamy; add everything else & blend until smooth, adding more water, if necessary, to achieve desired thickness.  Makes about 2 cups.
 

Kale Crisps: 

 

Wash a bunch (8-9 large leaves of curly kale) of organic kale, shake as dry as possible & place inside a clean cotton pillow case & refrigerate for 30-60 minutes to dry (the cloth wicks away the water).  Then strip out the mid-rib & tear into roughly 3" pieces.  Massage 1 cup of sauce into the kale & dust with the chipotle powder to taste & a bit of salt & toss/massage more.  Then dehydrate until completely dry.

 

When properly dried, they shatter in your mouth -- such fun!  I have a dehydrator, so I use that, but you could use the oven at lowest setting with the door cracked open.  The most important part is flipping them after 20-40 minutes depending on your method.  If you use the oven, line your cookie sheets with parchment paper first & check @ 20 minutes.  If they stick to the pan, they are so fragile they will disintegrate when you try to remove them & you will be left with kale dust. (Which I have done - put it in soup, yo!)

 

Oh, and if you don't know chipotle, most grocers have it, at least in the Hispanic foods section.