An easy way to turn a bunch of summer squash into a healthy snack you can enjoy all year long.
Course
Raw Food
Cuisine
healthy snack food
Prep Time15minutes
Cook Time12hours
Total Time12hours15minutes
Servings1bag of squash chips
Ingredients
2.5poundsthin sliced summer squash
2cupsorganic white vinegar
4cupswater
2Tablespoonssea salt
Instructions
Thin Slice Your Squash - The best thing to use here is a mandolin slicer. You can process a lot of squash very quickly and get the exact same thickness on each slice. If you don't have a mandolin slicer, just us a good sharp knife and slice your squash into strips as thin as you can make them. *If our squash are more mature, we'll just remove the seedy parts and add them to our hot composting pile (hot composting, aka the Berkeley Method, ensures seeds and pathogens are "burned out.)"
Brine Your Squash - In a large non-reactive bowl (ceramic or glass), combine all ingredients EXCEPT for sliced squash. Stir together and wait until salt has dissolved before adding squash to bowl. Cover bowl and allow to stand for 12 hours (in the fridge or on the counter).
Remove and Dry - Remove your sliced squash from the salt & vinegar mixture, then place onto dehydrator racks and turn to your dry veggie setting (125° - 135°F on our Excalibur). If you don't have a dehydrator, you can also dry your squash on baking racks in your oven, turned to the lowest heat setting possible (you don't want to cook them, just dehydrate them).
Store - Once your squash chips are dry and crunchy, remove them from the dehydrator. It usually takes about 12-18 hours for us, depending on how thin-sliced the squash are. Store dried squash chips in air tight containers until you're ready to eat them—large jars or ziplock bags work well.