Friday, August 29, 2008

Chips & Dip

Snacks are really scarce around my house. Celery and peanut butter, carrots and celery sticks (sometime with dip,) my lame porridge bread with honey, cherry tomatoes, a few grapes. That's about it.

So I was delighted when Cousin Kathy sent me this gluten free chip recipe from her low carb collection. No corn for me, so I'd been looking for a replacement chip for salsa and hearty dips. This is a great chip!

Zucchini Chips

1 large zucchini (I used a yellow one)
2 eggs
2 cups shredded cheese (I used Monterey jack)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Grease 2 cookie sheets.


Cut the ends from zucchini. Shred. Mix with egg and cheese. Make 6-8" circles on greased cookie sheets. I used a rubber spatula to get spread them thin. Bake at 450 degrees for 12 minutes. Loosen and flip the circles. Bake for another 5 minutes.


With a pizza cutter, cut rounds into triangles.

Let cool on a rack for 6 - 8 hrs in the cooling oven. Store in a plastic bag or container in the refrigerator. Best used within a week of preparation.

After the chips have dried, you can toss with popcorn seasoning or any dry seasoning mix. I used a little salt and pepper.

Cousin Kathy is an actress, and now a professor in a university drama department in Florida. Her appearance has always been part of her job. That's tough, all day, every day, no matter what. She's always looked beautiful, wispy and stunning to me. I have trouble just being appropriately dressed and having my hair combed when I leave the house. We shared lots of recipes before I went gluten free. I'm glad we still can. Break a leg in your new teaching position, Cuz!

And here's that dip recipe I've been dying to make with my sun dried tomatoes:

4 dried New Mexico chiles
3T minced fresh hot pepper (I used hot banana pepper)
3/4 C sun dried cherry tomatoes (or cut larger ones into pieces)
1/2 small onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T minced chives
1 T minced garlic chives
1/4 C olive oil
3 T cider or red wine vinegar
1/8 t salt

5 ounces fresh goat cheese.

Cut the dried chiles in half. Remove the seeds and discard. With a really sharp knife, cut the chiles into small pieces. Put the pieces in a bowl and cover with hot water. Let soak 30 minutes.










Put the sun dried tomatoes in a separate bowl and cover them with hot water. Let soak about 15 minutes. Get your goat cheese (I've substituted cream cheese in the past) out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature.

While they are soaking, cut up all your fresh ingredients.


Mix all you ingredients (except goat cheese) in a bowl. Leave the blow in the refrigerator for at least an hour, so the flavors can blend. Spread the goat cheese on a serving plate. Cover with wrap and put that in the fridge. They can stay in the fridge for a day or two before you assemble the finished dish. When ready to serve, just spread the tomato chile topping over the goat cheese and serve with chips.

Sorry I don't have a photo of the finished dip. I put it together quickly and ran out the door to a party. There was not one morsel left to photograph.

In garden news, my squash mystery is solved. It's the cucuzzi squash that have taken over the flower garden by the pond. Since I started watering daily, the squash are maturing rapidly. I am already overstocked!

And here's another zinnia with tiny bonus flowers in the center. I love my zinnias!


Happy Labor Day! I hope you get a long weekend!



5 comments:

Melanie said...

Kay, those chips look fabulous! I must try making some. I am getting am starting to wonder if I too have a problem with corn. This would be a good alternative!

Anonymous said...

Awww...Cuz!

I'm all...verklempt! Thank you for such sweet words! High praise coming from your creative, imaginative, gorgeous self!

I'd be remiss if I didn't give credit where credit is due, and since Cleo creates a lot of low-carb recipes that are also gluten-free, some of your friends might want to check out her blog:

http://cleochatra.blogspot.com/

Her recipe links are about half-way down on the right.

I had a great first week at school. I hope yours was great as well. Enjoy your Labor Day!

xoxo
Cousin Kathy

Unknown said...

Kay - I tried making these twice. Should they be crunchy? I can't flip them with out messing them up and they don't look like yours. They are soft, not crunchy. They sound fabulous, but I don't think I have the knack. What do you think I am doing wrong? Thanks.

Gluten free Kay said...

Hi Tami,

Just saw your comment. Sorry for the delay.

I made mine bigger than the recipe said to. It said to make two circles on each cookie sheet. Two smaller circles would have been easier to flip. I spread my batter REALLY thin.

If your batter is too gooey, try adding more cheese or zucchini. Maybe you used larger eggs than I did.

Mine were firm, but not crispy when they came out of the oven. Then I put them on a rack in the cooling oven (turned off) overnight. They were more chip-like in the morning. I put some in the freezer. I may have to re-crisp them when I take them out.

Check out Cleo's original recipe in her blog, which is listed in the comment above yours.

Hope this helps!

Unknown said...

Thanks, Kay! I'll try again with your suggestions. I would never make it as a cook.

Love your blog! You've really helped me with this new journey.