As unhealthy as chips are for us, we can’t get enough of their salty crunchy goodness. Nowadays, a healthy alternative is emerging that still satisfies our craving for flavor and crunch; veggie chips!
By making your own veggie chips you can choose which vegetables and seasoning to use. It doesn’t take long and they are quite simple to make once you have the right equipment. Slicing the vegetables becomes a really easy task thanks to a mandolin, also be sure to use a peeler to remove the skin. It’s also a little bit easier if you have a wire rack that can be placed on your baking sheet because then you won’t need to flip the chips over halfway through cooking. You also need a cooling rack to place your chips once they are baked.
These recipes are just to cook the chips but you can add any seasoning you want. You can pretty much use any type of vegetable for this recipe; we suggest trying eggplant, zucchini, and carrots! Seasoning suggestions are salt, pepper, paprika and rosemary … etc.
Beet: Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Wash 2 medium sized beets and slice as thin as possible on mandolin. In a mixing bowl, toss them with 1½ tbsp and seasoning of choice to evenly coat, then bake in the oven on the middle rack for 30-35 minutes; don’t forget without a wire rack check to flip them over after about 15 minutes. Once they are done baking, let them cool before tasting. Beets are a great source of nutrients and fiber; they help fight inflammation, lower blood pressure, have anti-cancer properties and boost your stamina.
Taro Chips – heat oven to 400 degrees
Taro Root is not the most common vegetable, but they taste great as a crisped chip and are a great source of Vitamin C and Potassium. Taro root works better if you peel the skin off, and slice them as thinly as possible. Once again, toss 1 sliced taro root with 1½ tablespoons olive oil and any other seasoning you wish to add. Place the slices on a baking sheet, they can be touching but make sure they do not overlap. Bake them for 12 minutes before flipping them over for another 12 minutes. Give them about 3 more minutes to cool down and crisp a little bit more before eating. Be sure to watch them carefully so they don’t burn.
Sweet Potato: heat oven to 450 degrees
Sweet potatoes are great when baked and even better when turned into a healthy alternative snack choice! They are high in potassium, dietary fiber and Vitamin A and have countless health benefits. It’s the same steps as the other two but this one cook 2 medium sized potatoes, thinly sliced, on a higher temperature (450) and start with 10 minutes on one side before flipping them over for another 10. You want to pull them out when they are crunchy on the edges but tender in the middle.
You might have to wait a bit longer for some of them to fully crisp as every oven is different. A good trick if you have the time is to cook for the specified amount of time, then turn off the oven but keep your chips in there for about an hour. Because these chips are sliced so thinly they can burn very quickly or if they’re not thin enough they won’t crisp or just take longer. A lot can go wrong so don’t be disappointment if it doesn’t come out perfectly your first try, it takes some practice!