Sarah’s Amazing Cheesy Kale Chips {Trim Healthy Mama S}

You know, I have tried so many times to like kale chips. I know all about how healthy they are. I know other people love them. I’ve made half a dozen batches TRYING to LIKE them, and I just never have… they’ve always been bitter. And who likes bitter?!

But then my wonderful friend and neighbor Sarah came over with a little bowl of kale chips for me to try, and I almost fell out. THEY WERE SO AMAZINGLY GOOD that I didn’t even share them with my family… I stood there and devoured the WHOLE BOWL.

And then texted her and demanded the recipe. Finally, kale chip perfection… not only are they NOT bitter, they’re delicious and have a cheesy taste, and I love them so much I keep a batch in my dehydrator CONSTANTLY. It’s just a BONUS that they’re chock full of SUPER FOOD NUTRITION. Make some NOW, and then thank my friend Sarah for bringing this goodness into my life…

Start with cashews, preferably soaked, Nourishing Traditions style. (If this is new to you, here’s a post on how and why you should soak nuts before you eat them!) Here are mine, fresh from an evening in the oven…

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Toss your soaked, drained, dried cashews into the blender along with everything else…

A tablespoon of yellow miso. I couldn’t find yellow, so I bought white. I have no idea if there’s any difference, but this one had a really mild flavor and I liked it.

This is what miso looks like, and I found it in the refrigerated section of my health food store.

Add the juice of one lemon.

Citrus press = one of my most-used kitchen gadgets.

A few tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar. Be sure and use the unfiltered kind that comes with the mother (Bragg’s brand is my favorite). Don’t ask what ‘mother’ means. It’s complicated.

You’ll also need to add a red bell pepper (I also use green when it’s what I have; no biggie); 2-3 peeled cloves of garlic; and a tablespoon of Nutritional Yeast (I like the flavor of KAL the best). <-- a="" addicted="" and="" be="" cheesy="" chips="" gives="" honest="" href="http://astore.amazon.com/thbiblho-20/detail/B000F4Y2GY" i="" is="" it.="" kale="" love="" m="" taste="" the="" their="" this="" to="" what="">Nutritional Yeast

on popcorn too, FYI. (*This is not bread yeast. It’s also not candida yeast. Because yuck. It’s GOOD FOR YOU yeast).

Blend it up, baby. Make sure it’s smooth with no cashew chunks. Then dump it all into a big bowl of kale leaves. And please use fresh kale BUNCHES and NOT the bags because the bagged stuff has stems in it, and also who knows how fresh that really is (and it tends to be more bitter, FYI); I use kitchen shears to cut the leaves into bite-sized pieces and toss the stems into my compost bin.

Stir it up well; it will be REALLY thick.

I should note that on all subsequent batches of kale chips, I’ve added 3-4 tablespoons of coconut oil to the mix for two reasons: to make the mixture smoother and easier to spread amongst the kale, and also to add in some extra Super Food nutrition. Tropical Traditions coconut oil is my favorite. It also makes this recipe an S Snack if you’re a Trim Healthy Mama.