BAKED BEET CHIPS

There is no escaping the fact that chips are my weakness.  With the Canada Day long weekend ahead, I was already thinking about chips. It’s also summertime which means bags and bags of chips of every kind are brought to the forefront of the aisles of all the super markets. Have you noticed? For a chip lover like me, that’s not good.

  I was a little late in embracing the sweet and earthy taste of beets but now I can’t get enough. I also can’t get enough of those bagged gourmet beet chips that cost a small fortune. The farmer’s markets have tons and tons of beets right now and as always I end up with a drawer full because I can’t resist buying too many. In an attempt to avoid the very unhealthy supermarket chips, and because I had beets coming out of my ears, I gave these baked chips a go and, I have to say, they are as satisfying as potato chips but so much healthier. They need very little oil and are super crunchy and salty and you can add any spices you’d like. A simple sprinkle of sea salt and pepper is our family’s favourite combo, but the chips can also be enhanced with a few additional spices and flavourings such as chopped rosemary or a combination of red chilli flakes and za’atar. Serve them with a dip if desired, our favourite is a chimichurri vegenaise (recipe coming soon) but like all chips, they go well with any dip.

  Since oven temperatures vary greatly, the beets will require some attention while cooking. They need to bake long enough to get crispy but if over-cooked will shrivel to a tiny and not-so-tasty brown chip. The thickness of the sliced beets will also impact cooking times. Dust off your mandolin and slice the beets as uniformly as possibly to 1/16″ thickness. I find that once they turn a pale colour and have shrunk considerably in size, they are ready to come out. In my oven, this usually takes the full 40 minutes of cooking and they will crisp as they cool on the baking sheets. Super quick and easy to make, these are charming for entertaining  guests with their sweet and salty goodness. We were snacking on these all weekend.

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Baked Beet Chips

Author: Sandra, adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients  

• 8 medium or large beets very well scrubbed
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil plus more for the baking sheets
• Kosher salt to taste
• Freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Instructions 

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and grease lightly with olive oil.
• Using a mandoline, slice the beets to a thickness of 1/16" or as thinly as possible.
• In a bowl, toss the beets, olive oil, salt and pepper until well coated.
• Lay the slices out in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets.
• Place the baking sheets in upper and lower thirds of the oven and bake for about 20 minutes. Rotate sheets and bake for another 15-20 minutes.
• Allow chips to cool completely on the baking sheets. Adjust seasoning and serve plain or with dip of choice.

Notes

The beets will shrink significantly when baked so use larger beets if possible. There is no need to peel the beets but give them a good scrub before slicing. Once out of the oven the beets will need to cool completely in order to crisp up.

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