A few days ago, Paul and I were eating sandwiches in the car at the airport just before I dropped him off for a quick biz trip.  Anddd there happened to be some kettle-type chips in the car.  I munched on a few and proclaimed, ‘wow, chips can be really good.’  This message was received as though I had just announced that as the Earth makes its journey around the Sun, our planet is accompanied by a round far away object called the Moon.  Yes.  Of course chips can be really good.  But when I picked up the bag to study the ingredients and nutritional values, I threw it back down and thought, actually I’m just gonna move on.

That experience combined with a photo I recently saw of apples being sliced with a mandolin slicer made me realize wait, I can make our own chips.  Move over greasy, messy, salt-bombs-in-a-bag!

This method of making delicious, crunchy chips at home worked really well.   These can help diversify lunch, make a great snack by themselves, and I dare say, would own the Superbowl snack lineup.  (Seriously, if you need a solution for game-day snacking, these can help.  The recipe below is easily scalable.)

Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Hands-On Time: 20 minutes inc cleanup

Servings: 4-5

Kitchen Equipment: Mandolin Slicer, Slicing Gloves (see below for details on both) Baking Sheets, Parchment Paper

Ingredients: 

– 1 Large Sweet Potato

– 4 Small Beets

– 4 Tsp Olive Oil, divided

– Generous pinch Sea Salt

Steps:

– Preheat the oven to 350 Degrees F and prepare two baking sheets by lining with parchment paper.

– Wash the beets & sweet potato and pat dry.  Trim the ends with a sharp knife.

– Set up the Mandolin.  Then locate your slicing gloves.  What are those?  They are essentially contemporary chain-mail gloves that will prevent you from slicing off the tips of your fingers.  Many models of Mandolin come with them, they are also easy to find in kitchen stores or online.  Mandolins do not have to be fancy or expensive.  Same with the gloves.  Here are ours:

– Next, slice the vegetables, starting with the sweet potato (because the beets will stain the mandolin, which will stain the sweet potatoes when you go to slice those next, but not the other way around.)  If necessary, cut the sweet potato in half and in half again so that it will fit on the deck of the mandolin.

– Put on the slicing gloves, then, firmly holding the top of the sweet potato, set it on the surface of the mandolin opposite the sharp end of the blade.  Hold the mandolin firmly with the other hand.  With conviction, slide the piece of sweet potato over the blade.  Repeat until you are at the end of the piece, then repeat with the other pieces.

– Then slice the beets the same way.  An entire small beet will fit easily on the deck.

– Take :15 at some point along the way to enjoy your perfect slices:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

– Place the sweet potatoes and beets in two *separate* mixing bowls at you go (again to prevent staining the sweet potatoes – we want the chips to look appetizing!)

– Once finished slicing, add two teaspoons olive oil to each bowl.  Since the slices tend to stick together, you’ll need to get in there with your hands to incorporate the olive oil over all of the slices.

– Arrange the sweet potato slices on one cookie sheet.  They may be touching, but should not overlap.

– Arrange the beet slices on the other cookie sheet in the same fashion.

– Bake the slices at 350 Degrees F for 20 minutes, turning the sheets in the oven at the ten minute mark.

– After 20 minutes, remove the sheets from the oven and flip the slices.  You’ll see that the underside of the slices is still undercooked/not yet chip like.  At this point, sprinkle the pinch of salt over the chips.

– Bake for another 20 minutes.

– Remove from oven and spread out on cooling racks.  Try some!  Remember to allow chips to cool completely before storing in an airtight bag or container.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bet these won’t last long!