Zucchini Chips

Do you have an overabundance of zucchini in your garden right now? Are your friends and neighbors starting to avoid you because they can’t accept any more of your extra zucchini “gifts?” Well, this recipe will help you to easily preserve your harvest without using up any freezer storage space (or annoying your friends). When you pull out these raw zucchini chips on a cold winter night people will gobble them down like they’ve never seen zucchini before in their life.

When you have a large bowl of sliced raw zucchini it’s time to make the marinade. (You may have to make several batches of marinade in order to coat all the slices).

Ingredients:

1 TBS. olive oil

2 TBS. fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 TBS nutritional yeast (for cheesy flavor)

Extra nutritional yeast to sprinkle on top

Pour the marinade over the chips and gently toss them to coat. Make sure that each slice is coated. It helps to slide a coated slice over an uncoated one, front and back, to get the flavor onto each chip. Make more marinade as needed and repeat the process until all slices are coated.

Arrange the coated slices in a single layer on the mesh dehydrator trays making sure that they do not touch each other. Lightly sprinkle more nutritional yeast on top of each slice. In order to maintain a raw chip dehydrate at only 110 degrees for 10 – 12 hours. I usually dehydrate overnight and then check them in the morning. Add more time if necessary. They are done when all the chips are dry and crisp.

Allow the finished chips to cool in the dehydrator before storing them in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid. These will stay crisp and tasty for months stored this way, and you can enjoy your fresh garden produce any time of the year. Zucchini chips are great for parties and healthy lunchbox treats, too!

Fresh, green veggies… enjoy zucchini all year long!

Potato Chips

This recipe is from the cookbook, “How We All Went Raw, Raw Food Recipe Book,” by Charles Nungesser, Coralanne Nungesser, and George Nungesser. I recently decided to eat more raw and purchased an Excalibur food dehydrator and this book to start on my journey. This potato chip recipe is the first I tried with my new dehydrator. I was delighted with the results, and so was my family. The chips were crispy and delicious. The only thing I would change is the cayenne pepper. For my taste 1 tsp. is just too much — way too spicy for me. Next time I will use 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper, and I think that would be perfect.

I love that these chips are raw, and that I have the power to regulate the amount of spices; definitely healthier than the supermarket variety. A dehydrator uses low temperatures over a longer time than baking does, but don’t worry, it only costs 3 – 6 cents per hour to run a dehydrator, and you will be preserving the living enzymes in your food.

time: 20 minutes prep

2 – 3 hours to soak

11 – 12 hours to dehydrate

In a bowl, add: 6 red potatoes, thinly sliced (if you use russet potatoes, trim off any green spots)

5 cups distilled water

Soak about 2 – 3 hours; rinse and drain to remove starch.

In a bowl, add:

potato slices

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

1/4 c. Ume Plum Vinegar (or raw apple cider vinegar)

1 tsp. cayenne pepper (I think 1/4 tsp. is plenty)

1 – 2 tsp. sea salt, or to taste

Marinate for 1 hour. Place each chip on a teflex sheet and dehydrate 11 – 12 hours at 105 degrees.

Cinnamon Apple Chips

This is a sweet healthy snack everyone will enjoy, and they’re much cheaper than those you can buy in the store. Yum!

Ingredients:

2 cups unsweetened apple juice or apple cider

1 cinnamon stick

2 Red Delicious apples

Method:

In a large pot or skillet combine the apple juice or cider and cinnamon stick; bring to a low boil. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Meanwhile core apples, slice off 1/2 inch from top and bottom (and eat!). Gently saw apples crosswise into very thin (1/8 inch) slices (a mandolin works great for this).

Drop slices into boiling juice; cook 4 – 5 minutes until slices are translucent and lightly golden.

With slotted spatula or spoon, remove apple slices from juice and pat dry. Arrange slices on cooling racks (I used the racks from my toaster oven for this). Place racks on middle shelf in preheated oven; bake 30 – 40 minutes until apple slices are lightly browned and almost dry to the touch. Let chips cool on racks completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes about 40 chips.

Recipe: Kale Chips

This is a recipe my daughter, Shannon, made and shared with us tonight. She found it in a “Woman’s Day” magazine that I had given her (who knew it was there), and it was so simple and totally different that I just have to share it. I love that it is so healthy and fun to eat — you just might find the kids snacking on these!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Wash one bunch of kale and dry thoroughly. Remove stems and thick veins, and cut leaves into pieces about 2″ x 2″.

Spread cut leaves on a cookie sheet, salt to taste, and bake for about 12 minutes. They will be crisp, light, and frilly. So tasty and healthy!