Joni Sare, cooking instructor

Raw: Dehydrated Kale Chips #1

In this recipe I used MCT oil (Medium Chain Triglyceride) … and didn’t care for the flavor, so, next time I’ll replace it with Olive Oil.

Here’r the ingredients:

  • 4 bunches Kale (I used DINO kale in this recipe)
  • 3 tbls Olive oil (enough oil to coat each leaf)
  • 1 tbls Red miso (enough miso to have a bit on each leaf)

Directions…. see caption, below each image….

The Happy Boy Farms at the Sunnyvale Farmers Market had young tender leaves of Dinosaur Kale. I bought all the remaining bunches at closing time, getting a discount for buying so many and for 'end-of-the-day-sale'.

 

 

 

4 bunches of young-leaf Dino Kale, from Happy Boy Farms.
Add several drops of GSE in the bath water to rinse the Kale. Or, use a Veggie Wash, there are several products now to chose from.
Take one bunch, look at the stems. If the stems are degrading m0ve aside the twist tie, do not remove it though, and cut the stems just to the left of the twist tie, as shown here in the pic. Most ties are tight which bruises and breaks the leaves, thus the leaves degrade right were they are tied and are no longer edible.
Do some quality control: Spread out the bunch on the counter (or on the cutting board, shown here, I do this for all my leaves - cilantro, etc.) Pull out the unwanteds and put'm in the throw-away bowl (on right, along with the cut ends), pull out the quality leaves and put'm in the bowl on the left.
Here is a healthy kale leaf - no discoloration, no bite marks. (bite marks are okay, unless there is lots of bruising and degrading around the marks)
Here is a discolored kale leaf, throw out the whole leaf.
Here is another discolored kale leaf - it's dark, reddish and looks sickly, throw out the whole leaf.
Here is a discolored and chewed kale leaf, pinch off unwanted end.
Rinse kale leaves in a large bowl with GSE (a very large bowl is easiest - see coffee mug as size reference), put just one handful of leaves in the water so that you have room to swish the leaves around, allowing the water to flow freely between the leaves and the back side of the leaf where particles get trapped in the vein structure of the leaf. (ooohhhhmmm time)
Drain the leaves, spinning is recommended b/c the oil will stick better to dry leaves, then transfer them to...
... a large stainless steel bowl.
Mix together in a small bowl: 3 tbls oil and 1 tbls red miso. I used MCT oil, but will not use this in the future b/c I didn't like the taste. I used Red Miso to add a salty and aged flavor.
Massage the mixture onto the kale, gently moving the miso and oil to all leaves, front and back sides. (now, again, is "ohhhmmm time")
Place leaves in a single layer on dehydrator sheets.
Dehydrate at 110 degrees, over night, or until desired crispyness.
These kale leaves are dry 24 hours later, and, are pretty much the same size.
Dried kale leaves (eye candy).
Mmmmm, not only do they look good, they taste good. Note: this is the first time I tried MCT oil. To me - olive oil has a much much better taste.
Dehydrated kale chips (full leaf) with bits of red miso and MCT oil.
Here's another shot of the yummy crispy treats: dried kale leaves.
Dried kale leaf, front.
Dried kale leaf, back (miso has dried in small clumps, very tasty).
Store chips in air-tight baggies.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top