Dehydrated Kale Chips with Turmeric "Cheese"

Dehydrated Kale Chips with Turmeric "Cheese"

Massaged lacinato kale dehydrated to crisp perfection in a vibrant sunflower-seed-and-turmeric "cheese" coating with garlic, lemon, cayenne, and nutritional yeast

Makes 4 servings (about 4 cups) · 15 min active · 8–10 hr total (or 20 min in oven) · year-round (peak winter for kale) · midday snack or anytime

Cuisine: Modern Raw / Living Foods

Ingredients

• 1–2 bunches lacinato (dinosaur) kale, de-stemmed and broken into bite-sized pieces

Sunflower-turmeric "cheese"

• 1/2 cup raw sprouted sunflower seeds, soaked 1 hour and drained

• ½ cup raw cashews, soaked 1 hour and drained

• 3–4 tbsp nutritional yeast

• 1 garlic clove

• juice of 1 lemon

• 1 tsp ground turmeric

• ½ tsp cayenne pepper

• 2 tbsp single-estate extra virgin olive oil (optional — adds richness)

• pinch sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• filtered water as needed to blend

Method

1. Sauce. Blend all sauce ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth.

2. Massage. In a large bowl, combine kale with sauce. Massage with hands 2–3 minutes until kale is well-coated and slightly wilted.

3. Dehydrate (preferred). Place kale on Teflex sheets or parchment-lined dehydrator trays. Dehydrate at 110°F for 8–10 hours until crisp.

4. Oven alternative. Bake at 225°F for 20 minutes, flipping halfway through.

5. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container at room temperature; consume within 1 week (they soften quickly with humidity).

ENHANCEMENT SUGGESTIONS

1. Lacinato kale beats curly kale. Lacinato (dinosaur) kale is structurally better for chips — larger flatter leaves crisp more uniformly, hold sauce better, more pleasant texture.

2. Add miso paste to the sauce. 1 tbsp white or yellow miso to the cheese sauce — adds umami depth that nutritional yeast alone cannot provide. Restaurant-quality flavor.

3. Apple cider vinegar splash. 1 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar in the sauce — brightens; structurally important for the "cheese" tang authenticity.

4. Smoked paprika layer. 1 tsp smoked paprika in the sauce — adds subtle smoky depth that elevates the flavor from one-note to complex.

5. Spice variations on different batches. Make multiple batches with different spice profiles: (a) ranch (dill, garlic, onion); (b) BBQ (smoked paprika, cumin, maple syrup); (c) sour cream and onion (cashew cream, dill, chives); (d) salt and vinegar (apple cider vinegar, sea salt). Variety on a snack platter.

6. Add hemp seeds to the sauce. ¼ cup hemp seeds in the cheese sauce — adds protein, complete amino acid profile, and a richer texture.

7. Pre-massage with olive oil and salt. Massage kale with olive oil + salt for 1 min before adding the cheese sauce — softens fibers, helps the chips be less bitter.

8. Sprinkle with extra nutritional yeast after dehydrating. A final dusting of nutritional yeast on the warm-from-dehydrator chips intensifies the cheese flavor.

9. Make once a week and store in the freezer. They actually keep crispness better in the freezer than at room temperature — counterintuitive but it works.

Sourcing: Lacinato kale from local farmers' market or your CSA share at peak season — backyard kale is one of the easiest cool-season greens to grow, productive from autumn through spring in most US zones. Raw sprouted sunflower seeds: Living Tree Community or Go Raw (both small-batch, sprouted varieties). Nutritional yeast: Sari Foods (small-batch, non-fortified) or Bragg's. Single-estate extra virgin olive oil. Turmeric: Diaspora Co. (single-origin, fresh-harvested) — dramatically more flavor than supermarket. Heirloom hardneck garlic. Lemons from local farmers' market. White or yellow miso (for enhancement): South River Miso (Massachusetts small-batch traditional) or Miso Master. Raw apple cider vinegar (for enhancement): Bragg's o