The thing about eating better, cleaner, and healthier, is you have to have an abundance of good snacks at all times.
The last thing you want to do is go hours on end without food, and then binge eat everything in your fridge at once. I’ve always had a problem with that, but I’ve been stocking my kitchen up with good snacks. Fruits, plantain chips and hummus, homemade guacamole. Constantly perusing sites like Pinterest and Delish help spark inspiration to stockpile new snacks.
I’m trying to eat as little processed foods as possible, but I’m not restraining myself to something like a Whole 30 diet or Paleo. I feel like I constantly fail at those because it’s ridiculously strict. As long as you just make healthier, conscious decisions about what you’re eating, it’s easier to get to goals you set for yourself.
So, snacks. What are some of your favorite things to munch on throughout the day? Trust me, I’d kill for a bag of fritos and bean dip right now. Hummus and plaintain chips work well in place, though. I even found this delicious white bean hummus at Trader Joe’s the other day. I’m pretty sure they got rid of my favorite Sriracha hummus, which really bums me out. Oh well. Onwards!
This is my first attempt at making homemade chips, believe it or not. These tiny, baby zucchini were giving me the sideye at TJ’s the other day, so I had to buy them. My first instinct was to actually pickle them for some tuna burgers I’ll be making this weekend, but then I thought…no. Chips! Dill pickle chips! My mind works circles around new ingredients.
One thing that makes me most happy is having fresh dill in my kitchen. I adore the herb. It’s heavenly. The dill pickle flavor worked so well on these chips (which actually turned out like mini bites; I underestimated just how small the baby zucchini was) and made them taste exactly like a pickle.
FYI: best dill pickles are Claussen. Fight me.
Pro-tip for making veggie chips: You gotta cook them low and slow. I’m talking hours in the oven. I set my oven to just 200. It feels weird, but trust me! The less you disturb these babies, the better, too. My mom used to always get onto me for peeking into ovens or slow cookers.
“You’ll let all the heat escape!”
I always scoffed, but maybe she was onto something…
Dill pickle zucchini chips. Add these into your snack rotations ASAP!
Dill Pickle Zucchini Chips
Crispy, dill pickle flavored vegetable chips.
Ingredients
- 5-6 baby zucchini, or 2-3 regular sized zucchini, sliced really thin (I used a knife, but a mandolin would work better)
- 1 TBS. white vinegar
- 1 TBS. olive oil
- 2 TBS. fresh dill, chopped
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- salt & pepper
Directions
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together white vinegar, olive oil, dill, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add sliced zucchini and toss until well coated.
- Spread zucchini in an even layer on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 2 to 2.5 hours until crispy and browned.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Preheat oven to 200 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together white vinegar, olive oil, dill, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add sliced zucchini and toss until well coated.
Spread zucchini in an even layer on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 2 to 2.5 hours until crispy and browned.
I’m sure these are delicious. They’d be perfect in a quiche with cheddar or mozzarella cheeses.
They would be such a good quiche crust! 🤤
YUM!
Zucchini’s ni chips are awesome! I make them in my dehydrator.
I’ve got to get a dehydrator! I think my husband might kill me if I buy another kitchen appliance, though 😭