Make kale chips yourself

Kale is now on everyone's lips and also Make your own kale chips or smoothie recipes with kale have become a real trend. The kale has an incredible nutrient density with a very low calorie count and brings many health benefits. Therefore, kale is considered a real superfood and of course belongs in our Nutrition blog.
But how do you get kale into a tasty form now? I've got the answer today! In this article, I'll show you the benefits of kale and how you can make delicious raw vegan kale chips yourself or use kale in a smoothie. Let's go!
Here is a short table of contents for you:

• Advantages
• Make kale chips yourself
• Kale smoothie recipe
• Closing words

Advantages of kale

In this paragraph, I would first like to introduce you to the benefits of kale in terms of sustainability and health.

Kale is a winter vegetable

The healthy cabbage is in season from November to February, sometimes you can even find it in March. If you eat seasonally, the winter vegetables are an optimal supplement, since you tend to eat little fruit in the winter months.

Regional cultivation

Another advantage of kale is its regional cultivation. Due to the short distances, kale is particularly climate-friendly, as it is not particularly harmful to the environment either during cultivation or transport. If you are interested in the connections between nutrition and the environment, I recommend my article on the subject of Nutrition and environment.

Vitamins

Kale contains particularly high levels of vitamins A, B, C and K. With just 100 grams of raw kale, you can already cover your daily requirement of vitamin A (beta-carotene), vitamin C and vitamin K (phylloquinone).

Minerals and trace elements

There is also a lot of calcium and iron in kale. Many people are deficient in these two important micronutrients. With enough kale, however, this is an end, precisely because the bioavailability of calcium is very good. It's especially good if you process the kale raw, because then all the nutrients remain contained. My recipe for the kale chips and the smoothie recipe with kale process the kale raw.

Macronutrients

100 grams of kale contain about 4.3 grams of protein, 1 gram of fat, 2.5 grams of carbohydrates and only about 40 calories. This means that kale is excellent for a lowcarb diet or as a lowcarb side dish and is also very low in fat. Due to the good macronutrient distribution, as well as the high number of vitamins, iron and calcium, kale should be included in a health-conscious diet (more tips in the Healthy Food Blog) is not missing.

Make vegan kale chips yourself - The recipe

So now finally to the recipe and how you can make kale chips themselves. For the kale chips you need

• 10-12 stalks kale
• 2 red bell peppers
• 1 jalapeno
• 1 clove garlic
• 3-4 sun dried tomatoes
• 200 grams of sunflower seeds, soaked overnight
• 100 ml water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons paprika chili spice mixture
• ¾ tsp Worcestershire sauce
• Salt
• Pepper

1. Clean kale properly and shake off the water.
2. Pluck kale into bite-sized pieces, place on a towel and pat dry.
3. For the marinade, place all of the above ingredients except the kale in a blender and blend until smooth.
4. In a bowl, mix the kale with the marinade for about a minute.
5. Spread the marinated kale on a baking sheet.

Preparation in the dehydrator (raw food variant)

6. Set the dehydrator to 42 degrees and allow to heat up briefly.
7. Place kale in dehydrator and dehydrate for 10 hours.

Preparation in the oven

6. Preheat oven to 90 degrees
7. Put kale in the oven and bake for 80-100 minutes. The baking time depends on the moisture of the kale.
8. In the oven, it is advisable to turn the kale halfway through the cooking time.
9. If the kale is not crispy enough towards the end of the baking time, simply reduce the temperature to 60 degrees and let it bake a little longer. Clamp a spoon in the oven door so that the moisture can escape.
10. Towards the end of the baking time, be careful not to burn the kale.

I store the kale chips in an airtight Canning jar on, because they keep so longest. How long they last exactly, I can not say, because I have always eaten all the chips within three to four days, because they are far too delicious. Preserving jars in set you get here*.
I have already tried the recipe in the oven and also in the dehydrator. In the dehydrator, the chips get a little crispier and of course still have raw food quality. Therefore, I recommend using a dehydrator, but if you don't have a dehydrator, the recipe will also work in the oven.
The same dehydrator as I have, you get here*. The machine is unfortunately not plastic-freebecause I could not find a plastic-free vending machine on the market. However, the plastic parts are BPA-free. I own the machine since the beginning of the year and am very satisfied so far. If you have any questions about the device, you can just leave me a comment.
In the meantime I use the dehydrator really regularly, e.g. for

• Sugar free crunchy muesli
• Dry strawberries or other fruit
• Making celery salt yourself

Advantages of making kale chips yourself

The biggest advantage of making kale chips yourself is probably that you know exactly what's in them. No preservatives, no additives and no flavor enhancers. For me, that's actually reason enough to make my own kale chips.
Making kale chips yourself is also far cheaper than buying ready-made kale chips, as the small packs are often quite expensive. So if you have some money and also Plastic- as well as Save paper waste you should make your own kale chips. The kale chips are also 100 % raw when you make them in the dehydrator.

Smoothie recipe with kale

If you don't always want to eat your homemade kale chips, but also want to process the kale differently, I recommend a green smoothie with kale. Again, since you're using the kale raw and unprocessed, it retains all of its nutrients. And by blending it, the nutrients are even easier for your body to absorb. But now to the smoothie recipe with kale:
For this you need:

• ½ pineapple
• 1 banana
• 2 dates, pitted and soaked
• 3-4 stalks of kale (depending on size)
• 1 tablespoon flaxseed
• 200 ml water

Optional:

• 1 tablespoon hemp protein powder - you get here*
• 1 tsp maca powder - you get here*
• ½ tsp turmeric - you get here*
• Pinch of pepper

Simply blend all the ingredients until smooth. If you like it a little more liquid, add a little more water.
The smoothie recipe with kale makes about two servings and is easy to keep fresh in the refrigerator for about 2-3 days.

Conclusion - Make your own kale chips

Kale is a great regional vitamin C supplier, especially in the winter months when you catch a cold easily. In addition, the kale contains many other vitamins, as well as iron and calcium in quite high quantities, so that the kale is considered a real superfood.

Make your own kale chips is now part of the kale season for me. The chips are super tasty and also totally healthy. You no longer have to have a guilty conscience when you eat chips. In addition, they are without additives and you know exactly what is in it.

Als Alternative, wenns mal schnell gehen muss, kann man natürlich immer einen Smoothie selber machen mit Grünkohl. Hier bleibt der Grünkohl auch roh und der Körper kann die Nährstoffe besonders gut aufnehmen. Ich hoffe du lässt dir deinen Grünkohl schmecken! Wenn Fragen oder Anregungen hast, schreibe mir gerne einen Kommentar unter diesem Beitrag.

All the best,

P.S.: If you like, then take a look at my post with 11 tips for vegan life or my contribution to 13 good vegan alternatives for animal products over.