We had been thinking about getting a dehydrator for a few years now and finally decided to purchase one. After a lot of research we decided on a 9 tray Excalibur dehydrator with timer, model # 3926TB.
We are planning on using it to dehydrate fruit, herbs, vegetables, and make snacks like fruit roll-ups and zucchini chips for the kids, so we went with the larger 9-tray model. Stocking our pantry with healthy snacks instead of buying store bought processed items, and being able to preserve our garden harvests were our main reason for purchasing a dehydrator.
Yesterday I got to play around with it and made some delicious Vegan Cheddar-Kale Chips!
The recipe I used was from Ani Phyo's book Ani's Raw Food Essentials.
Ingredients:
1 cup red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cup raw cashews
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 to 4 tablespoons water, as needed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
6 cups bite-size pieces of kale, packed (about 1 bunch)
Directions:
Place the red peppers in a food processor or blender, then add the remaining ingredients except for the kale. Blend, using only enough water to process into a thick cream.
In a large mixing bowl, toss the pepper mixture with the kale, coating it evenly.
I tossed it with my hands, working the mixture evenly into the kale.
Spread the kale onto two 14 inch square Excalibur Dehydrator trays and dry at 104° for 8 to 10 hours.
The finished Cheddar-Kale Chips!!
Delicious!
They taste even better than the ones we get from the Store!
We usually buy them whenever we go to Whole Foods, but like everything healthy, they are a little pricy.
I made one small batch, which is probably equal to 6 bags from the store and it cost less than 1/5th of the price!
Can't wait to try other recipes!!
How awesome! They look so delicious. A dehydrator is on my wish list so I'll keep this in mind for when we are able to get one. The cheese coating sounds so yummy - I may have to use it over pasta or something!
ReplyDeleteLooks yummy! I'll have to try them out when our Kale in the garden gets a little bigger!
ReplyDeleteWe bought our first dehydrator this last fall and have been faithfully using it ever since. We made some kale chips: just with salt and EVOO but we really enjoyed them. Thank you for sharing this post at the HomeAcre Hop! Look forward to seeing you tomorrow evening: http://blackfoxhomestead.com/the-homeacre-hop/
ReplyDelete~Jenny
Black Fox Homestead.com