Falafel Flavored Kale Chips

How is Monday treating everyone? My Monday has been gray but good. I got my exercise finished much earlier than usual this morning. It is amazing how much more time you have in your day when you do this. I am not a morning person but I am going to try to get back to early morning exercise. Only time will tell if this is actually possible for me. ;-)

This idea came for falafel flavored chips I sampled at our health food store about a month ago. They were quite tasty and I thought I know I can make a healthier version at home. Seeing the kale at the farmers’ market made me think kale would be a good vehicle to hold the seasonings. I used sesame seeds since tahini is so common in all Middle Eastern food. The flax was added so that the chips would get crispy. The verdict, they are the new favorite kale chip at our house. I hope you give these a try. Here is what I did:

Falafel Flavored Kale Chips
Makes 3 Man sized portions

Ingredients:

3 kale leaves (stems removed) torn into pieces approximately 2 inches by 2 inches
4 tablespoons sesame seeds (or the equivalent in tahini)
2 tablespoons flaxseeds
1 lime zested and juiced (optional you can use 1 tablespoons of water but the lime adds brightness)
7 tablespoons water
½ tablespoon cumin seeds
½ tablespoon coriander sees
½ teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine the sesame seeds, flaxseeds, lime zest and juice, water, cumin, coriander, and garlic in your blender. Process the mixture until it is completely smooth. You may need to add a little more of less water. The lime juice plus 7 tablespoons of water created a thick consistency that I thought was right for sticking to the kale leaves.

Pour the seed mixture into a bowl and add the kale and toss to coat. They are going to look like a gooey mess. Don’t worry the kale chips will get nice and crispy when dry.

Place the pieces of kale on top of the teflex sheets in a single layer. If you wish sprinkle them with sea salt and pepper and dehydrate at 105 degrees overnight. In the morning they will be crispy and crunchy and will be flavored like falafel.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 180.45
Calories From Fat (61%) - 109.34

Total Fat - 12.95g
Saturated Fat - 1.67g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 35.22mg
Potassium - 275.66mg
Total Carbohydrates - 13.25g
Fiber - 5.26g
Sugar - 0.22g
Protein - 6.41g

Comments:

If you like regular kale chips these have better texture and flavor. They crunch more like a cracker. I love the flavor and aroma of these chips. They are a little high in calorie but the servings are big, about 2 cups a piece. The fact that they contain omega 3’s makes me very happy.

Each serving contains approximately 5,180IU of vitamin A, 45mg of vitamin C, 150mg of calcium, 275mcg of folate, 180mg of phosphorus, and 40mg of magnesium. Pretty amazing for something you have with your sandwich or salad. I am really pleased with this recipe.

Unrelated notes:

As usual my day hasn’t gone as planned. My friend Deirdre has something come up at work so we needed to cancel lunch today. Given our cool gray weather it was probably best that we had to reschedule. We were both hoping to go someplace downtown on the harbor and have an al fresco lunch. Today would not have been the best for that.

My afternoon is going to entail trying to get through the last few DVDs from the 2009 Nutrition Conference. The 2010 DVDs are available for sale now and I want to finish watching the 2009 ones before I order the next set.

I have a few things to get caught up at home. I will check in with you all tonight after dinner, if not sooner.