Well I said last week that I'd probably be up to my old tricks by now.
But much to my own surprise, I decided to try another 'healthy' recipe I've been thinking about - zucchini chips!
If you ever look at the sidebar of my blog that lists 'popular recipes' you will see that Apple Chips are number one.
They have been for a while now, but the funny part is that they are number one by a landslide.
Mr. Vittles occasionally looks over my shoulder while I'm reviewing my blog's stats, and he is always so amused by the fact that the Apple Chips completely dwarf every other post.
This fact is absurdly evident by a bar graph that shows the top 10 posts' all-time number of views... basically one long bar, with a whole bunch of short ones beneath it.
Up until this week (when Cheesy Bacon Oven Chips suddenly blew up on Pinterest) the Apple Chips had four times more views than the 2nd most popular post.
So... in light of people's apparent interest in this recipe, Mr. V decided that I need to make chips out of something else.
And the next, most logical thing that came to my mind was zucchini.
To me, these chips taste kinda like thin & crispy pumpkin seeds. (I guess that shouldn't be too much of a surprise since they are relatives in the squash family). Much lighter, but the taste is similar.
And the seasoning possibilities are endless - you can tailor them to your liking. Garlic, paprika, chili powder... use your imagination! I went with a basic Seasoned Salt and they came out great. But whatever you choose, just make sure you go easy on the seasonings, and only use a little bit - these do shrink a lot in the oven, so what looks like a reasonable amount on the raw veggies could turn out to be way too much!
Baked Zucchini Chips
- 1 zucchini
- canola cooking spray
- seasoned salt, or other seasoning(s) of your choice
Preheat oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or nonstick foil, and spray with canola oil. Set aside.
Slice zucchini into thin medallions, about the thickness of a quarter. (You can either use a knife & a very steady hand, or a mandoline slicer.)
Lay out slices on prepared baking sheet, and spray tops lightly with additional cooking spray. Sprinkle with seasonings of your choice. (A note on seasoning, however - use LESS than what seems appropriate. These shrink considerably in the oven, and if you use too much it gets very concentrated. It's better to end up underseasoning and add more later.)
Place in preheated oven and bake 45 minutes. Rotate baking sheet, and bake an additional 30-50 minutes, until chips are browned and crisped to your liking. These are best eaten within a couple hours of removing from the oven, as they start to get chewy if left out. One zucchini makes one serving (1/4 C. - 1/3 C. of chips depending on the size of your squash).
Original Recipe
Truly something I will be trying this summer with my own zucchini.
ReplyDeleteI baked mine at 425 for 30min. 255 just made them soft. I also used olive oil instead.
DeleteSome readers are complaining of them being soggy,I have a suggestion I myself haven't made them yet but will give it a try>I suggest small zucchini,sliced paper thin lat them out on a paper towel make sure all water/juice are dry,then I would spray the cookie sheet very lightly w/oil and sense salt draws water out of food I'd leave the salt off until they have been turned because you can still salt them when they are crisp just give them a light spray of oil then shake or grind away and at that time I would sprinkle with bits of shred cheese and bits of bacon,because I am doing the low carb thing will let you know how it turns out.
DeleteIt might help to also know where the rack should be in the oven. I am making these right now, and have layered them singly, and have the rack lowered almost to the bottom. Right now I am using summer squash, and hope it works out.
DeleteAnd they're tasty, are they? They certainly sound good. I hope they count as a serving of vegetables!
ReplyDeleteJust to add - I pinned this to Pinterest and it was repinned 40 times in a span of about 5 minutes. So, yes, I think your "chips" are quite popular.
ReplyDeletehi how did you pin to pinterset???please help!
DeleteHi! There are a actually few ways to pin to Pinterest... but if you are on this website, and you already belong to Pinterest, you can click on a bookmark called "Pin It" that you would have downloaded onto your web browser when you became a member. A screen will come up with different photos from this page. Click on the one you want, and then a smaller box will come up to label your pin & choose your board. You can also re-pin someone else's pin on Pinterest, onto your own board. Hope this helps!
DeleteAnother way to use up those zucchini this summer!
DeleteI baked as directed but chips came out very soft. What did I do wrong?
DeleteDid you cut them thin enough? Oven temps can also very from one oven to another. Maybe the temp was not at 225. Maybe just bake them longer.
Deletethere is another recipe on pinterest that uses a baking rack, that way the chips are not sitting in any moisture.
Deleteawesome! i have a zuke just waiting for this recipe!! anne
ReplyDeleteWow, these look awesome! I pinned your cheesy oven bacon chips ...I just happened to get online like 2 minutes after you'd posted it, and it had tons of repins almost instantly. Congrats on making such popular food, and THANKS!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Evelyn! That is so sweet :) :)
DeleteI LOVE this recipe! makes me want to rush out and buy some zucchini!
ReplyDeleteMe too.
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