Zucchini chips: a recipe

Zucchini chips

If you follow the Ninj on Facebook, you already know that my zucchini fell victim to the dreaded and disgusting squash vine borer this year, so I may be the only gardener in Vermont that actually has to buy zucchini right now. But I love the stuff, so I'm faking having an overabundance of it that I need to use up (shhh ... don't tell).

I made some zucchini refrigerator pickles yesterday that won't be ready for a day or two, so I'll give you an update on those next week.

I also made zucchini chips in my dehydrator.

If you don't own a dehydrator, go buy one. Seriously. It doesn't even matter if it's the lame-ass Ronco kind, it will still work. And it's amazing the stuff you can make with meat, veggies, fruit and more (the Ninjette is a big fan of chicken jerky and banana roll-ups).

Word on the street is that you can also achieve a similar effect by drying stuff in your oven at a very, very low temperature, but I can't vouch for that, as I've never tried it. Moreover, I doubt you'd want to keep your oven occupied for 14 hours in some cases.

Back to the chips.

I sliced one large zucchini very thinly with a mandoline, tossed the slices gently with some olive oil, sprinkled in some kosher salt and set the slices on the trays to dry. This batch, due to their extreme thinness, took about nine hours -- thicker chips might take quite a bit longer.

Sidebar on the mandoline: I use a handheld Kyocera ceramic slicer, which makes short work of the slicing. And, oh my gawd, I am crazy in love with ceramic! It's scary-sharp and stays that way. If I could do it safely, I might just carry my big Kyocera chef's knife around with me at all times, like a good ninja. (I swear I am not shilling for the company, I just love their ceramic.)

Back to the chips.

These are no substitute for potato chips to accompany your lunchtime sandwich, believe me. They are delicate, very nearly melting in your mouth. We enjoy them with a light cocktail before dinner. But note: they will rehydrate (read: wilt and get mushy) almost immediately if you take them outside into the humidity, so try to enjoy them indoors.

But they are so addictive most of them get eaten straight from the dehydrator. Trust me.

How are you preserving your zucchini? The Ninj wants to know.

[ BTW, I'm entering this chip recipe in Garden of Eating's Can You Can It? preserving contest!]

Zucchini Chips

Ingredients
1 large zucchini, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea or kosher salt

Directions
Gently toss all ingredients in a bowl until zucchini is well coated. Lay chips on dehydrator trays. Dry for 8-10 hours or until desired level of crunchiness is achieved.

Variation: add some additional dried herbs or red pepper with the salt for additional spiciness.