Healthy Snack Wednesday: Get Your Veggies in Your Chips & Deli Flats Winners!

Go ahead, ask me the one food I can not turn down and cannot stop eating. Go ahead…I’ll give you a hint. If you bet I couldn’t eat just one, you would be 100% correct! Chips. The salt. The crunch. The crispness. I can’t get enough and can’t turn them down.

In current years, there have been some healthy changes in chips, using better oils, and baking them make them a little better for you. But baked chips taste like cardboard, and there is no way that large amounts of Olestra can be good for you.

So, when I ready my Healthy Snack Wednesday partner in crime’s post about Sweets & Beets, my Healthy Snack Wednesday idea was born! Beet Chips it is! And I didn’t stop there. I also created a company-ready treat from these delicious bites that is reminiscent of the blue cheese topped homemade chips that are fairly popular in restaurants these days.

The best part about these chips, the nutritional value! Beets are low in calories (37 calories per 1/2 cup), high in fiber (2 grams per 1/2 cup), and have zero fat! I also was able to purchase local beets, which made me happy. Although the local beets weren’t as pretty (on the outside) as the “other beets”, they sure were beautiful (and tasty) on the inside…which is WAY more important.

With just a squirt of cooking spray, and a sprinkle of Dave Eat’s Tabasco Flavored Salt (I used the hot salt to give it a nice kick!), these are the healthiest salty, crunchy snack around!

Beet Chips

Ingredients

• Whole Beets scrubbed clean w/ skin still on (any variety)
• Cooking spray
• Salt (I used Tabasco Flavored Salt)

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees
• Cover a baking sheet with tin foil and spray with cooking spray
• Slice beets, thinly and uniformly, using either a mandolin slicer, a peeler, or a slicing attachment for a food processor (I used the mandolin, without injury I may add!)
• Pat beets drive with a paper towel
• Place a single layer of beet slices on the prepared baking sheet
• Spray beets with a thin layer of cooking spray and sprinkle with salt
• Bake for 20 minutes and then flip the beets
• Bake for an additional 10 – 25 minutes, checking frequently
• Baking time depends on several things: thickness of slices, type of beets, ripeness, your oven…these can burn quickly, so make sure to watch them.
• Beets are ready when they no longer feel damp or flimsy
• Take beets off the baking sheet and place in a brown paper bag to cool

Fancy Beet Chips for Company

Ingredients

• Beet chips prepared as shown above
• Equal parts sour cream & balsamic vinegar
• Crumbled feta cheese or goat cheese

Directions

• Place your finished beet chips in an oven-proof dish
• Sprinkle the chips with your cheese
• Place in a 350 oven for 5 minutes, or until cheese just starts to melt
• While the chips are baking, in a dish mix together equal parts balsamic vinegar and sour cream until smooth
• Remove chips from oven, place on serving plate, drizzle with the sour cream mixture and serve!

Disclosure: Dave, of Dave Eats!, is the husband of a great friend of mine from all the way back in elementary school! Not only is Dave a great guy, but he makes amazing spices! I was provided samples of Dave Eats! spices to try, but was not required to review them. My opinions of the product are, as always, my own, but…come on! You guys know me, it is SPICY SALT, of course I love it!

Pepperidge Farm Deli Flats Winners!

Thank you to everyone who entered the Deli Flats Giveaway! It is now time to announce the 3 lucky readers who each won 2 packs of Pepperidge Farm Deli Flats! Please email me renh77 at gmail dot com with your address and your prize will be mailed to you! Congrats!

And the winners are…

1. Janice
2. Emily of www.acambridgestory.com
3. Delishhh of http://delishhh.com/

Enjoy your Deli Flats! I certainly did!