I have received many emails asking for recipes on healthy snacks. We have all heard the hustle behind kale chips, as delicious and natural as it is I thought I could improve them and used chaya instead.

Chaya is a plant local to tropical weathers. It is a pointy leaf that grows as a bush of approximately  1.5m high. If eaten raw, lets say in a morning green juice, it tastes like baby spinach but slightly acidic. Once cooked the bitterness arrives and it is similar to kale.

For this recipe you will need chaya leaves (or if not try with any other plant of the same family, lets say cabbage, kale, spinach) the largest the better since they shrink a little and also it looks amazing (if you are having a party or so you can downsize them to bite size).

You will need a tray, that will be slightly covered in olive oil.

          

Don’t forget to wash the leaves and dry them out. Cut the thicker part of the stem since it wont get crispy but tough and hard to chew.

Sprinkle some olive oil on them and rub (I used lemon infused oil).

Lay the leaves on the tray then into the oven. I used a wood fired brick oven and since the temperature is not really manageable they were ready in a matter of seconds (20 secs). If using a regular oven calculate a good 180°C for about a minute. Just watch them shrink and get crispy, there is no rule on time and temperature!

Once they come out take them immediately off the tray so they don’t soak up the oil left over and sprinkle with salt (I used Maldon salt which sticks better).

Play around with this recipe no fear allowed, try sprinkling paprika for a smoky taste, curry, all spice and so on so you get several “flavors”.

Happy snacking!

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