Winter Vegetable Chips

This recipe works for watermelon radishes, rutabaga, celery root, beets or carrots. As long as the vegetables are sliced thin they will crisp up pretty well. Our favorites were celery root and the watermelon radishes. We actually fried ours in home rendered lard, wow!

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds.

-Peel some of the winter vegetables mentioned above and carefully slice 1/16 inch thick with a mandolin (these have to be cut super thin to crisp up right). You want to end up with 1 baking tray’s worth.

-In a large bowl, toss beets with 2-3 TBS extra-virgin olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.

-Arrange the vegetables in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet.

-Stack another rimmed baking sheet on top of the baking sheet with the vegetables on it.

-Bake until edges of vegetables begin to dry out, about 20 minutes.

-Uncover and rotate sheets.

-Bake 10 to 20 minutes, removing chips as they become lightened in color.

-Transfer to a wire rack and sprinkle with more sea salt; chips will crisp up as they cool.

Vinegared Beets Nested in Greens

(From our bible, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.)

-Remove the greens from a bunch of beets. 

-Scrub the beets and steam them until tender, about 20-25 minutes.

-Rinse the beets under cold water and slip the skins. Set aside.

-Wash the greens and steam them until tender, about 5 minutes.

-Toss the cooked greens with 1 TBS butter and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

-Arrange them in a nest on a plate.

-Heat the beets with another TBS butter, a finely chopped clove of fresh garlic and a pinch of salt. 

-Add 2 tsp Balsamic vinegar and shake the pan until the vinegar evaporates. 

-Spoon the beets into the center of the greens and serve.