Vegetables, the new junk food

When trying to eat healthy, vegetables are the first items that come to mind. In a previous post titled "Making veggies fun", I showed you how you can transform every day boring vegetables into a fun treat for your family. I'd like to share a few more tips in this post as to how you can transform vegetables into everyone's favorite junk food... chips! 

Now I know that everyone is used to eating potatoes, which is a vegetable, and makes a great chip, but they are also very dense and full of carbs and calories. Today I'm going to share how you can create delicious, crunchy chips with zucchini, kale, and Brussels sprouts (also mentioned in "Making veggies fun" post). These chip versions are much lower in calorie, contain more vitamins, and they bake very well saving you on the extra calories when frying typical potato chips.

Zucchini Chips

Zucchini is one of my favorite vegetables to begin with. It is very easy to cook with and usually very inexpensive. Zucchini is not something I usually see featured on a menu unless it's deep fried into what is called zucchini sticks. It wasn't until I visited my now favorite restaurant Blu Fig (check out my review) that I found zucchini chips listed as an appetizer. Served with Greek tzatziki sauce, this crispy, crunchy, cool delight is a must have. Now the ones served at Blu Fig do have a light breading before they are baked but they can always be sliced and baked just on their own. The trick is to slice them very thin and then just apply a light drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle with salt. I normally cook at a higher temp for a quicker time, anywhere around 450 for about 30 minutes. Keep an eye on them, when they brown they're done. For extra flavor you can throw on a little garlic powder or Parmesan cheese. 

Kale Chips

These don't look like you're traditional chips but when you take a bit out of one you will instantly feel like you're cheating on your diet. Kale chips begin by removing the stalk from

kale leaves, tearing off bite size pieces, and then washing and carefully drying the kale. I use a salad spinner for best results. You don't want any liquid to make these soggy. If you're lazy, you can buy a bag already prepped and ready to go at the food store. Once prepped layer them on a baking sheet and lightly drizzle a touch of olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and cracked black pepper, or any seasoning of your liking. This time I bake at a lower setting, around 350 for 20-30 minutes, rotation my pan. You don't want black leaves, just a touch of brown. 

Brussels Sprout Chips

If you read my previous post mentioned above, you'll know by now that Brussels sprouts are way cooler then you probably thought.

They are great when some of their outer leaves fall off and crisp up, but this time you're going to cut the bottom off and remove all of the layers to form little round chips. Once you have a nice pile, layer on a baking sheet and drizzle on olive oil, balsamic, sea salt and pepper. Mix with your hands, then bake at 375 for around 10-15 minutes. Some of the bigger chips will take longer to cook so make sure you rotate all of them with a spatula so they don't burn. You can take out the ones that brown first. In just a few cooling seconds you will have little crispy chips that aren't a thing like you're typical Brussels sprouts. 

All of these recipes can be altered to your taste. I like to add the salt for flavor but you can eat these plain. You can add in any additional seasons you'd like to really spice these up. These healthy snacks will become a regular in your household for kids and adults to enjoy!