Baked Potato Chips
Photo by Carin Krasner/Getty Images
The number of ingredients in a crinkly bag of commercial potato chips is staggering. Take Lay’s Original Baked Chips, for instance: It contains dehydrated potatoes, modified food starch, sugar, corn oil, salt, soy lecithin, leavening (monosodium phosphate and sodium bicarbonate), and dextrose. (Don’t ask me why they had to use two forms of sugar.)
So last night, the hub and I made our own oven-baked (not fried!) potato chips using a recipe I found online. Just grab a bag of organic taters from your local farmer, slice each potato into thin chips, then bake them on a pan with some salt and butter for 15 to 20 minutes at 500°F, or until golden brown. Some of our chips came out a little burned because of our uneven slicing—the Food Network won’t be coming a-calling anytime soon—but most of them tasted just like they came straight out of a bag from the snacks aisle—no preservatives, no packaging, no excessive greasiness, and seriously delicious. Did we mention CHEAP, too? The hub started bellyaching when I began (loudly) craving potato chips at 10pm, but once we were through with a stack of some homemade golden goodness, he immediately asked if we could make some more tonight. (Remember kids, junk food, whether organic or not, is still junk food, so go easy on it. Your mom just called me to tell you that. You should listen to her more often.)
If you’ve been following our eco tips thus far, you’ve probably honed reducing your contributions to the waste stream to an art form. So we can’t imagine you’d have very much trash at the end of the day, after you’ve separated your recyclables and the organic material you’ll be tossing on top of the ol’ compost heap. Still, most of us are doomed with the detritus of everyday living, and so, if you work in a cubicle with your own regulation trash can, consider tossing your litter in the communal trash can in the office break room, instead. You’ll save your cleaning attendant the trouble of changing out another plastic liner—plus, those petroleum-derived, nonbiodegradable bags can really add up.
Summer said,
September 27, 2006 at 3:15 pm
Clever thinking Checkhov =)
alvin wong said,
September 28, 2006 at 11:28 am
in Beijing, Lays chips come in localised flavours like cucumber and Peking duck….
will try your healthy chips recipe!
June said,
September 30, 2006 at 9:01 pm
I wonder how they turn out if you switch the butter for olive oil?