Before I add my food for the day I thought I’d talk about the zucchini chips I started yesterday. They turned out rather nicely, however, 7oz of raw zucchini turned into just 1/2oz of chips. To make them I took a small/medium zucchini and sliced it into rounds using a mandolin we have, using the 3mm blade setting (~1/8″). I dipped the rounds into a mixture of soy sauce and water (1/4 cup to 1/2 cup, although you use almost none of it) for 5 mins. Afterwards I spread the rounds out on the mesh screens for my dehydrator and sprinkled with garlic powder.

I put them into the dehydrator at 135F for approx. 12 hours. It might have been less time but I didn’t want to run it overnight so I turned it off after 8 hours (they were still flexible though in the morning) and then did another 4 hours today. They are quite crispy with a nice taste.

I originally thought that the soy sauce was to colour them, however I’m amazed how much of the saltiness is retained. I may have used too much garlic as I sprinkled each one with a little. Next time I’d put the screens on the counter, sprinkle the tray, then wipe up the excess.

So in the end they were quite nice. My mother said it’s the only time she’s eaten zucchini and liked it. I gave her most of the chips and took a few to a neighbour that was interested in the process. I doubt I’ll have enough zucchini this year to be bothered trying it again. However, if I’m wrong and inundated, I would definitely make them again. Next year I have a potentially better spot for the plants in the garden so I would probably put in a couple of plans just to use for drying.

From a calorie perspective I’d really just count the value of the zucchini itself. The amount of time it sits in the soy solution I doubt it picks up much and the garlic powder is negligible. So an ounce of chips would be 83 calories. I put the original 7oz of zucchini into FitDay with 1/2 Tb of soy sauce and 1/2 tsp of garlic powder and it came out to 51 cals (although my soy sauce has a lower calorie count than the generic one).

That’s both sides of the chips. You can see the screening marks on the underside so I suspect you do need to use the screening, otherwise they might break lifting out. I had to peel a few of them off (easy to do when warm). Oh yes, and that’s a nickel above them to give you an idea of how small they become. They were at least twice the diameter although they dried very evenly. If you use larger zucchini (the one I used was ~8″ long) I’ve seen it recommended that you remove part of the seeds in the middle and dry 1/2 rounds.