Friday, February 1, 2013

Just right for Superbowl viewing



Crispy Beet Chips 
Photo and text by KARA DiCAMILLO/ecoRI.org News contributor

Here’s a confession: I’ve never cooked the beets from my CSA. I’ve actually never really liked beets and they have sat in my produce drawer and eventually get thrown away.

However, this week I’m playing hostess for our dinner club and I opened up the refrigerator to see what I could potentially use from my CSA. There were the beets, staring back at me. Because not everyone likes beets (ahem), I thought I would try something fun with them.

These beet chips are so easy to make, and one of the things that I like is that you can play around with the seasonings. I used sea salt, garlic powder and rosemary, but you could also sprinkle them with goat cheese for a satisfying mid-afternoon snack. They are healthy and downright delicious.

Here’s another confession: I ate all the chips myself, and can’t wait until I can make more.

Crispy Beet Chips
Makes about 2 cups

6 medium-sized beets, peeled and sliced thinly to one sixteenth of an inch (using a mandolin is best)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of rosemary, minced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine the sea salt, garlic powder and rosemary. In a medium-sized bowl, toss the beet slices with the olive oil and then lay each slice flat in a single layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with the salt mixture and then bake for about 30 minutes or until they are crispy.

Make sure to keep an eye on them because they will burn easily if cooked too long. Sprinkle with the salt mixture and then transfer to a wire rack to cool (they will crisp more as they cool). Enjoy.