Butternut Squash Chips

Posted on | August 17, 2009 | 5 Comments

It’s 9:30 p.m. and I want some junk food. Good, healthy, vegan junk food. I searched through every nook in the kitchen and other than tofu and some brussel sprouts that have started to compost in my crisper drawer, the only thing giving me the eye like that stupid stack of money with googly eyes in the Geico commercial is a butternut squash. Not what I was hoping for.

Eating vegetarian is always a challenge or so it seems. I thought to myself about all the things I could make with this lonely gourd. Ravioli, too time-consuming. Maybe a Boulevard pale ale smoothie. I decided, and rightly so, that a beer smoothie wasn’t going to be in my or anyone’s best interest so I decided on Butternut Squash chips. About two weeks ago a lovely lady named Ellen from California Rice Oil was gracious enough to send me a sample of their Rice Bran oil. I’m going to write a more in-depth review of this oil. Please take a look at their website for full nutritional comparisons on several different types of oils and the antioxidant benefits of rice bran oil.

The way I made these was to cut the squash in half and peel the skin off each half with a vegetable peeler. I then removed the seeds. Next I took my ceramic Kyocera slicer and shaved thin “chips” being careful not to make my fingertips part of the dish. I heated up a pan over medium high heat with about an 1/8 inch of Rice Bran oil and fried several strips at a time until they just started to turn golden brown. I then removed them from the oil and drained on paper towels. Good news, it’s a vegetable. Bad news, it’s a fried vegetable. But it isn’t a hot dog, so there is always an upside.

Butternut squash is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Calcium and Magnesium, and a very good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Potassium and Manganese and a moderately strong anti-inflammatory.

Makes about 1 Gary sized serving.

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