It's the middle of summer and we've all got more zucchini & summer squash than we know what to do with....right?
A quick and easy way to use up some of those delicious vegetables are to dehydrate them into crunchy, crispy, healthy "chips". You won't ever want another potato chip after you taste how delicious your own homemade zucchini chips can be.
Start by picking squashes that are of a good size, because they'll shrink quite a bit in the dehydrator. Don't pick them too large, they'll lose some flavor at that point.
Wash your squash and then slice using a "medium" or "thin" setting on your mandolin. Watch your finger tips!
Put all of the slices of zucchini into a bowl, and here's the secret to making the BEST zucchini chips you've ever had. Salad dressing. Yes, salad dressing! Put a Tbs. or so of your favorite salad dressing into the bowl, just enough to barely coat the zucchini slices. Flavoring your zucchini chips is easy when you use your favorite salad dressings, olive oil, salt & pepper or any other dried herb that your family loves. Experiment with flavors. Make each tray on your dehydrator a different flavor. Just remember when adding wet ingredients to spice up the flavor of your chips, only add barely enough to cover the squash. The thinnest coating you can get on them. When they dehydrate the flavors will only intensify.
Dry on your dehydrator for 6-8 hours depending on how thick your chips were cut. Pull from dehydrator when crisp, but not brown. Let cool, then remove from dehydrator trays. Store in an airtight container, and enjoy.
Some of our favorite varieties to grow for these chips are: "Black Beauty", "Caserta" and "Cocozelle".