The Raw Kitchen Kale Chips

For those of you from Western Australia, you will understand me when I say I am "more of a Freo person". 


Though I cannot stand their football team (EAAAAGGGLLLEESSS!), everything else about the port town I love! Casual and relaxed, largely aged and rundown yet sprinkled with modern and super-urban eateries and tiny gourmet food stores. Plus its cafes generally have a variety of vegan options available so thumbs up for that!

My sister and I have a weekend tradition where we head on in to Kakula Sisters and stock up with bags full of nuts (cinnamon almonds, you complete me!), dried fruit, various flours, spices and whatever else we can carry to the front till (check out the store's website here  - seriously, if they say Disneyland is the happiest place on earth this shop is like Mickey Mouse on crack, riding a unicorn and farting rainbows! FYI I need a painting of this scene in my life...).

However, before we make that delightful visit, we always make stop for lunch and order far to much of everything at The Raw Kitchen. I could go on and on for hours about the incredible (largely raw) vegan menu, the charmingly urban design, the fantastic attached shop stocking a range of eco-friendly ceramics, lotions and candles, the visible focus on sustainability and even the yoga studio where they hold regular classes! *Sigh*... Hippie heaven!

Bearing all this in mind, imagine my delight when I came across this post by Urban Walkabout where they purported to have uncovered The Raw Kitchen's recipe for their famous kale chips! *INSERT SCREAMING FACE EMOJI!*
 

 

Better than Christmas. 
Better than a room full of husky puppies smelling like bubblegum. 

Possibly better than a mother's love...


As part of our sisterly tradition, a lunch at The Raw Kitchen is simply not complete without a side dish of these crunch kale chips are, sceptical as I was, this recipe is indeed just like those served up in the restaurant! Rich, nutty and crunchy, if you can stop at just a handful of these bad boys you're a better person than me... or at least a less kale-stuffed one.


NOTE: The thickness of the coconut cream batter means that they will take longer to cook, though if you don't have a dehydrator or the patience you can cook them in an oven set to low.

The Raw Kitchen's Coconut Cream Kale Chips 

Courtesy of Urban Walkabout

 

INGREDIENTS:

1kg kale
1 young coconut (makes roughly 500ml coconut cream)
2 clove fresh garlic
30ml olive oil
75g nutritional yeast
1 lemon, zest & juice
60g sesame seeds
1 tsp salt
Pinch smoked paprika

METHOD:

Strip the kale off of the stalk and submerge in water for several minutes and transfer kale into colander or lettuce spinner to drain.

Tear the leaves into smaller pieces (remember, will shrink significantly) and transfer to a mixing bowl.

Remove the tops of the coconuts and transfer the coconut water into a jug / glass

Spoon out the coconut meat and transfer to a bowl. Ensure clean and free of any husk

Blend the coconut meat and water in a high speed blender, adding a little water at a time until desired consistency has been reached. We prefer a thicker cream for this recipe

Add & blend garlic, olive oil, yeast, salt, lemon and juice

Pour the mix over the bowl of kale and massage together until well coated

Stir the sesame seeds through

Spread the coated kale leaves evenly over a Teflex-lined dehydrator tray

Sprinkle generously with smoked paprika

Dehydrate overnight for roughly 8-10 hours

Remove when crisp (almost wafer-like) and store in an air tight container for up to 2 months

 

 

Vegan Mac and Cheese

Ok, let's be real for a second here. This 'Mac and Cheese' contains some mac but no cheese. 

 BUT, it will give you the same fuzzy, warm feeling the folks at Kraft have always promised minus the bloating, bubbling layer of grease and the gnawing sense of regret that will follow you to the gym for the entire week as you try to 'exorcise' (*BADDUM TCH!*) those cheesy demons! 

Or maybe that's just little old self-loathing me... I should really work on that... 

Either way though, this dish is legitimately the bomb dot com! Its not only VEGAN but also GLUTEN-FREE and pretty low in fat, especially when compared with its traditional counterpart. Rather than a cheesy, floury sauce it uses fresh pumpkin roasted with garlic and spices, almond milk and nutritional yeast for that familiar cheddar' flavour. Plus I served it in an edible pumpkin bowl so you know... its got that cute yet practical factor going on.

What's this? Where am I? Oh that's right, I once had a blog that used to post photos of food.... and yeah mostly just food on.

Well it has been an incredibly long time between posts but I am back with... *pause for drum roll*... SUPER EASY KALE CHIPS!

Yes kale chips, the darling snack of vegans, health nuts and hipsters everywhere which give you the perfect crunchy sound effect to slightly annoy everyone else in the movie/lecture/library/other generic quiet location, while at the same time being packed full of flavour, iron and fibre!

Did I mention they are super low in fat? No? Surprise! Yay for health benefits!

Now there are literally (not literally) a bazillion different recipes out there for kale chips, so I thought I would stick with the quickest and super easiest (title reference check) version you can whip up with very little forethought. You can literally walk in the door after a day at work and be munching on these babies in less than 20 minutes!

Annnnddddddd here's how:

Ingredients:

 

A bunch of fresh kale
3 tbsp olive oil (or coconut or whatever type you like!)
Large pinch each of sea salt and ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you like fire in your mouth)
1/2 tsp each of ground turmeric and paprika
2 tsp ground cumin

**You can really use whatever spices you like and/or have on hand, I just happen to like this combo!
 
  
Wash your kale leaves and dry well. Strip the leaves from the stalks and spread out over a couple of baking trays lined with baking paper, making sure they are in a single layer and not overlapping to much.

Pour the oil evenly over the leaves and use your hands to rub it in, making sure the leaves are well covered. In a small bowl combine the remaining ingredients and then rub this spice mix into the leaves. 

Bake at 150 degrees Celsius for about 15 minutes or until the leaves are crispy and smell aromatic but haven't started to brown. 

Remove, allow to cool to a temperature accommodating to the human tongue and enjoy!