August 7, 2008

Tomato Chips

Tomatoes

So what you gonna do with all the tomatoes from the garden?


You have canned spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes, whole tomatoes, tomato juice, tomato puree, salsa...towards the end of the growing season, when you feel you have canned all you can can and the freezer is bulging at the seams with fresh frozen tomatoes, consider dehydrating.

Dehydrated tomatoes, peppers and onions are wonderful for winter stews and soups.

How about something a little bit different?
Tomato Chips for snacks.


Dehydrated Tomato Chips
What You Will Need

Firm ripe tomatoes
Garlic powder
Dried oregano leaves
Dried sweet basil leaves
Salt
Pepper
Dehydrator

Directions

Wash and dry tomatoes with a clean towel.
Slice tomatoes in 1/4-inch slices.
Sprinkle tomatoes with garlic powder, oregano, basil, salt and pepper or your favorite spices.
Place tomatoes on dehydrator racks.
Dry 12 to 24 hours. Tomato chips should be pliable to slightly brittle.

Don't have a dehydrator? Try oven baked.

Oven Baked Tomato Chips
Makes About 40 Chips
3 pounds (about 14) plum tomatoes 1/4 cup (about) extra-virgin olive oil 1-tablespoon sugar Freshly ground black pepper to taste Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line three baking sheets with aluminum foil
Cut tomatoes into 1/4-inch-thick rounds, discarding the stem ends. Lay tomatoes on prepared baking sheets without overlapping, and drizzle lightly with oil. Sprinkle with sugar and lightly with pepper.
Bake until well-dried and caramelized, about 3 hours. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.
From Celebrate!
Nutrition facts per chip: 20 calories, 1 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 2 g carbohydrates, 0 g protein, 3 mg sodium, 0 g fiber

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's a lot of tomatoes, we make a lot of sandwiches and wraps here with our tomatoes though, we have only picked 2 so far.

Goody said...

I saw a fantastic do-it-yourself food dehydrator once that was a modified filing cabinet (a large one) with a fan. The drawers were removed and replaced with trays. I keep threatening to build one.

I'd love to dry tomatoes, fruit, and fruit leather, between a couple of screens in the sun, but I'm afraid the insects and flies would leave too much damage. The fly problem here has been over-the-top, given the rain.

I was glad to see you reviewed the yoghurt maker-that's the one we've been considering though I don't object to a glass jar with a heating pad wrapped around it. Yours looks safer.