Kale chips are a healthy alternative to most other chips because they’re not made out of potatoes (most potatoes are GMO) and they’re not fried. But kale chips are expensive, more than quadruple the price of a bag of ordinary potato chips, even the organic ones.
My thrifty self decided to make my own kale chips. I soon found out that kale doesn’t submit to roasting without a fight. It took me a while to figure out how to coat the kale to give it flavor without weighing it down or making it soggy.
Experimentation revealed that the kale must be completely dry or the coating won’t stick. I tried tossing damp kale with a cashew-butter coating, but it turned into a soggy mess. It tasted good, but lacked the right aesthetic for most of my family members.
Powdered lime is the secret ingredient in these kale chips. It gives the kale chips a fresh, tart flavor. Powdered lime plus cashew butter creates a crispy, crunchy coating on the kale chips that makes them savory and satisfying. I found powdered lime in my organic supermarket, and it’s also available online. Don’t try substituting lime juice or the cashew-butter coating will be too thin.
To be honest, kale is not among my favorite vegetables. It’s difficult to remove the stems, and the coated leaves tend to clump together. I like efficiency, but Kale can be frustrating. Baby kale, on the other hand, is easy to make into salads (and of course we all need to eat more dark green leafy green vegetables), but baby kale leaves are too small and thin to make into kale chips.
My entire family devours chips (the unhealthy potato kind), so I buy kale and periodically make these chips, which are quite addictive and delicious. I wash and dry the kale, fold the leaves in half, and slice off the tough stems. Then I tear the leaves into playing-card size pieces, toss them in the coating, spread them on a baking sheet, and toast them in the oven.
Please, cover your baking sheets with parchment paper. You won’t enjoy cleaning the pans after baking kale chips if you don’t. If you don’t have any parchment paper, buy some the next time you’re in the supermarket, or purchase it online.
Kale Chips with Cashew Butter and Lime
Crisp and light, these kale chips with cashew butter and lime coating are tart, savory and sweet.
Ingredients
- 1 large bunch kale
- 2 tablespoons cashew butter
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/8 teaspoon stevia powder
- 2 teaspoons lime powder
- 2 teaspoons coconut nectar
- Fresh lime juice (if needed to thin the coating)
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
Preheat oven to 225 degrees F.
Wash and dry the kale.
Remove the center spine from each leaf. Tear leaves into chip-size pieces
Place the kale in a large bowl, and set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients together to make a coating for the kale.
If the coating is too thick, whisk in fresh lime juice, one teaspoon at a time, until the coating is the consistency of heavy cream.
Pour the coating over the kale, and toss to coat.
Spread the coated kale in a single layer on one or two baking sheets.
Bake at 225 degrees F for one hour. Flip the kale with a spatula after 30 minutes. Check every 15 minutes after that to make sure the kale doesn't get too dry or start to brown.
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