Rainbow Blog

Rainbow Veggie Chips

posted by: Kia

Today we have a special treat for you…a delicious guest blog post from another Rainbow Eating Family…Ellie is one of our favorite Rainbow Eating kids!!!  Have fun making and eating these Rainbow Veggie Chips…such a yummy way to earn colors on your Today I Ate A Rainbow kit!

My 3 1/2 year old daughter, Ellie is obsessed with Hannah and Mrs. Kia (well, mostly Hannah), so of course, when she discovered the Rainbow Kitchen videos, we had to try all the recipes.

And then I started tweaking them, because that’s the kind of girl I am. ”Olive oil and sea salt, tastes like veggies? Oh, there will be none of that!”

I’ve pretty much settled on an Italian thing that I use for both the kale and eggplant chips, but today, after a trip to the farmer’s market, and a peek into the fridge, I decided to get crazy with it and chip up everything I could find, and before I knew it, I had a whole rainbow in the oven!

I used red beets, orange carrots, yellow squash, green zucchini and purple eggplant, but there are probably several other things that would work, and I sliced them as thinly as I could. I recently picked up a mandolin slicer at a second-hand store, so that’s what I used today, but I’ve also been known to “shave” off super-thin slices of eggplant using a vegetable peeler.

The key is to get them as thin as possible, so that they’ll get super-crispy. Do whatever it takes, with the tools you have on hand. And do be careful. I’ve heard some horror stories about those mandolins.

If you don’t mind your zucchini and such turning pink from the beets, just throw it all in the same bowl, and then toss them all with generous amounts of olive oil, garlic and Parmesan cheese.

I usually just use the cheap-o powery stuff in a can, but when I’ve made eggplant and kale chips while visiting my parents, I’ve used freshly grated Parmesan from a big wedge of cheese imported directly from Parma, Italy, and it was considerably better, as you can imagine. I often add Italian seasoning to my eggplant, as well, but I left it out of these.

If you’re not a fan of garlic and Parmesan, just use whatever you like.

Sprinkle and toss, sprinkle and toss, until all the pieces are well-coated.

Spread them out on a baking sheet, without any overlapping. They will probably fill two or three pans.

Do not use foil, because they will definitely stick. What’s worked best for me is a silicone baking sheet, but if you don’t have one of those, try some oil or cooking spray on the pan.

Bake at about 375 degrees, and start checking them around 15 minutes. I usually stir them around a bit at that point, using a thin-edged spatula, flipping the ones that I can, and unsticking the ones that need it, then let them go another 5 minutes or so. At that point, I usually take out the really crispy ones and let the others go another 5 minutes. (Note – My oven is a bit over-zealous, so yours might take a bit longer.)

We like them really, really crispy. See the brown and almost-black ones in the photo? Those are the good ones!

We do the eggplant chips pretty often, and I’ve made zucchini and squash chips once before, so I knew those should turn out pretty well, but I was very pleased with the beets, as well, especially the ones that were super-crispy.

The carrots never did get crispy, but they were worth having in there to make it a whole rainbow. Next time, I’ll try doing “ribbons” instead of mandolin slices, and maybe the thinner pieces will crisp up.

Ellie really liked them all, and at one point, I had to remind her that “That’s to share with Mama, it’s not all for you!”

Can you believe that just a few months ago, I would have told you that I “didn’t like” any of these vegetables, that I tried squash and zucchini for the first time just a couple of weeks ago, and today was my first beet experience?  Thank you, Kia and Hannah for opening our minds and helping us to become a rainbow family!

Ingredients
Beet, carrot, yellow squash, zucchini, eggplant – thinly thinly
olive oil
garlic to taste
Parmesan cheese to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Toss vegetables with olive oil and seasonings, and arrange on baking sheet (oiled or sprayed with cooking spray) in single layer.
Bake for 15 – 25 minutes, begin checking at 15 minutes. Turn vegetables over when checking.
Bake until well browned and very crisp. Serve immediately.