• 2 big bunches kale, nice and leafy
• 1/2 cup almonds
• *1/2 cup cashews (unsalted is best)
• 2 teaspoons chopped chilies (or more to taste)
• 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
• 2 teaspoon tamari or low-sodium soy sauce
• Juice of half a lemon

*Sometimes I substitute peanuts, Brazil nuts, or a combination of cashews, peanuts, and sunflower kernels. Pumpkin seeds could make an interesting addition as well. Try to find unsalted versions of these; otherwise, substitute water for half of the soy sauce.

Preparation and Combining

• Remove your dryer shelves and cover with dryer paper or parchment, cut or folded to fit.
• Break the kale into large pieces, and then wash and spin in a salad spinner—or pat dry.
• In a mini-grinder, blend the nuts, chilies, yeast, soy sauce, and lemon juice into a paste.
• Finely chop half of the kale in a food processor, and then dump it into a large bowl.
• Spoon half of the lemon-nut paste onto the chopped kale and toss until evenly blended.
• Repeat the process in another bowl with the other half of the kale and paste. (I find the operation simpler with two bowls.)

Shaping

• When the kale mixture is fully blended, scoop onto the dryer shelves in heaping teaspoonfuls. (A melon-baller works pretty well, but use whatever you have.)
• As you fill each dehydrator shelf, place a sheet of wax paper over the kale balls. Then press each ball with something flat (and heavy, if possible) until the ball becomes a wafer.
• Carefully remove the wax paper (you may need a spatula), and place the shelf in the dehydrator.

Dehydrate at 115 degrees until crunchy: 6 to 24 hours, depending upon the size of your dryer and the thickness of the wafers. With this recipe, I usually get about 64 small wafers (roughly 2” in diameter).