Baked Zucchini Chips

 

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).