Cremona's Kitchen

My friend Krystal is a member of this vegetable co-op where every Thursday she gets a box full of fresh veggies from a local farm.  I am the lucky person who gets extra veggies when her crisper is already filled from the week before.  In her box this week were some beets which she gifted to me.

I’ve honestly never had beets before.   I certainly had no idea how to prepare them.  In fact, my only interaction with the vegetable was through the cartoon Doug.  Matt has been craving snack foods a lot lately.  Every night he is rummaging through the kitchen looking for something to nibble on.  He has always been a fan of chips, and his stash of ketchup chips is running thin.

And that’s how beet chips were born.  The creation in this dish caused possibly the most “damage” my hands have ever had to go through in the kitchen.  My hands were stained red, and I cut my fingers on the slicer 4 times.  There was a real labor of love.  While the recipe I followed recommend slicing the beets as thin as possible, Matt and I both liked the thicker pieces.  So try some thicker and thinner slices to see where your taste buds land.

Ingredients

• Raw beets
• Olive oil
• Cracked pepper and sea salt
• Lemon juice

Directions

1. Remove beet tops.  Don’t toss away the greens–they are edible.  Saute them in some olive oil like you would any other greens.  They are quite good and have more iron and calcium than spinach.  Who knew?
2. Peel the beets.  This is the beginning of your skin dying process.
3. Slice beets into potato chip size.  I used the side slicer on the cheese grater.  Matt and I preferred the chips that were a bit thicker but you still want to have each slice relatively thin.  Otherwise they will stay mushy in the center.
4. Place beet slices in a bowl and mix with oil and lemon juice.  I started with five beets and used half of a lemon’s worth of juice.
5. Line cooking sheet with parchment paper.  Place beet slices on tray.  Top with cracked pepper and sea salt.  Cook at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.  Keep an eye on the beets while they cook because the smaller slices will likely cook fast and may need to be taken out of the oven earlier.  Enjoy!

Modified from: the little red house