Last week I was in the grocery store and spotted “beet chips” in the snack aisle.
What?!?
Beet chips?!?!
Does that sound like me or what?!
I decided I had better see what they were all about; and was really shocked by how tasty they were. My mind was blown. I was nearly halfway through the bag when I turned the package over and read the nutrition facts.
Gasp!
My mind then exploded. It looked like I would have to put in some extra time on the treadmill because a 1 oz serving of these babies was 8g of fat and nearly 300 calories! (And if you remember, I was already nearing the bottom of the bag!)
“How tricky,” I thought to myself. Trying to disguise an unhealthy snack as “good for you,” simply by having a vegetable on the front of the bag.
You won this round snack industry…
I immediately turned to my close friend, Google and searched different brands of beet chips finding that they were all high in calories, fat, and sodium content. How on Earth were these companies turning healthy, yummy beets into a food that I was now going to have to put in extra time at the gym for?!
I went back to the grocery store and purchased a few beets to see what I could do about this.
Yields: ~45 chips
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
3 beets, rinsed and peeled
1 tsp salt
Nonstick cooking spray
1. Preheat oven to 450°.
2. Thinly slice beets to ~ 1/8- inch thickness.
3. Place beets on paper towels and lightly salt. Allow to sit ~ 10 minutes so they release some of their water content.
4. Spread beets on parchment paper lined baking sheet and spray with nonstick spray.
5. Bake at 450° X 20 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking.
6. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to allow to cool.
The Cook’s 2 Cents:
· Make sure to check on the chips throughout the cooking process. Depending on the difference in thickness, some may cook faster than others. You may have to take some of the thinner ones out before the rest are done so they don’t burn.
· If you’ve got a mandoline, it makes the slicing process much easier.
· The chips crisp up as they’re cooling so don’t be worried if they’re still a little flimsy when you take them out of the oven.
Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size: ~20 chips
Servings Per Recipe: 2
Calories: 57 Fat: 1g Sodium: 164mg Carbs: 12g Fiber: 3g Sugars: 9g Protein: 2g
