Zucchini Chips: The Perfect Summer Meal Accompaniment

Summer is here, and it slammed into us full force as soon as the 21st rolled around. I don't know about where you are, but here, it is bordering on sweltering. Now, I mostly love this weather. I'm that person who's always cold. Always. So, humidity? Heat warnings? Bring it on! That is, until you stick me in a kitchen and demand that I put food on the table. Who wants to cook when it's like this? Who wants to eat when it's like this, much less heavy casseroles and meat-based dishes? So, that's where the Pizza Muffins came in yesterday.

Now, I couldn't just serve little pizza bites for dinner. I also cut up some fresh fruit and would have tossed together a salad, were it not for the fact that my vegetable crisper now holds just a measly half a carrot. Seriously. Well, okay, last night there was a measly full carrot, some pepper remains, and one lettuce leaf. And this: a beautiful (okay, slightly old and hinting at smooshy) zucchini. What to do with them, except make zucchini chips? Nothing. Nothing but make zucchini chips is the answer, in this context.

One zucchini does not produce many chips, nor did I even use all of my zucchini slices because, frankly, they didn't all fit on one baking sheet and I just did not feel like making another. I didn't love how these turned out, which I think is partially or mostly or entirely my fault and not at all to do with the recipe. I forgot the parmesan cheese and, of course, the salt (really, I swear, I was planning to sprinkle some on before baking!), and some burned and some didn't bake enough because I really don't know how to slice evenly, and I didn't make any of them as thick as I should've, and the coating really didn't stick all that well because I probably didn't have enough crumbs in the dish to begin with.

I still liked eating them, so you should try them, too. And hopefully you will be more successful in following directions than I apparently am. Can I blame it on the heat? Please say yes.

Zucchini Chips, courtesy of Power Meals
Yield: I halved the recipe and got enough for maybe two serious servings, so I'd say roughly 4 servings with the original (shown below). Definitely no more than that.
The Ingredients
1/4 C dry breadcrumbs (I used half whole grain matzo meal - what I had, apparently - and half panko)
1/4 C (1 oz) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. fat-free milk (I had 1%; the recipe also says you can substitute 2 egg whites instead)
2 1/2 C (1/4-inch-thick) slices zucchini (about 2 small)
Olive Oil Cooking spray
The Method
1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Place milk in a shallow bowl.
3. Dip zucchini slices in milk, and dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Place coated slices on a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray.
4. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes or until browned and crisp (flip once halfway through). Serve immediately.

Despite my forgetfulness and carelessness with this recipe, I really enjoyed them. They were light but tasty, and I can only imagine what a sprinkling of salt and parmesan would do to them. Definitely a keeper for when you're in need of a lighter side dish.