{Banana Chia Crackers}

Yield: Serves 2 or 1 dehydrator tray
Time: Approx 12-ish hours 

4 Tbls chia seeds
1 c water
1 banana, very ripe
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Place everything in a blender and process till smooth.  Let it sit in the blender for 15-20 minutes.  Spread mixture thickly onto a parchment lined dehydrator tray and dehydrate at 145 for 6 hours, flip, take off parchment and continue dehydrating another 6 hours until crispy.

*If you want perfect square crackers, after the first initial 6 hours cut into squares then flip and return to dehydrator for additional 6 hours.

I use the Excalibur 5 tray dehydrator.

Recipe courtesy of Food.com

{Beet Chips}

place your slices in a single layer. 

Fresh from the oven, you can see how much they shrink. 

They taste amazing with fresh guacamole!

 

 

Yield: It's up to you but for today's sake, we will only bake up 1 large beet which serves 2:)
Time: 45 minutes


1large beet
1/2 Tbls EVOO
Fresh ground pepper
salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Rinse and scrub the outside of your beet, no need to peel:)  Using a mandolin, slice your beet into 1/16th inch thick rounds (almost paper thin).  Place your slices into a bowl and your EVOO in another small bowl (I do this to control the amount of oil going onto my chips).  Dip your fingers lightly into the oil and one by one lightly coat both sides of each beet slice.  Place on parchment lined baking sheets in a single layer.  Once your baking sheet is full, sprinkle with fresh ground pepper (NOT the salt yet). 

Bake in the oven for approx. 18 minutes then rotate and shift your pan from top to bottom and bake another approx. 15 minutes.  You'll notice in the pics above, your beet slices will reduce by half when baked so take note of that if you plan on serving a crowd.  The edges of your beets will be dark and crispy, if the centers still look mushy, keep baking.  Once done, place your baked chips off to the side to cool completely.  If you used too much oil your chips will be never bake up crisp and will be soggy:(  Once cooled, sprinkle with salt.  If you put salt on any earlier in this process, they won't bake up crisp.

Serve with fresh made guacamole for a perfect snack!

{Roasted Red Pepper Crackers}

Yield: 1 dehydrator tray
Time: 2 days

2 red bell peppers
1 3/4-2 c raw cashews


Soak your cashews 2-6 hours in filtered water.  Drain and rinse.  Spread your soaked cashews out in a single layer on a dehydrator tray.  Dehydrate at 145-155 degrees for approx. 24 hours.  Check for doneness by biting into a cashew, if there is no more "chew", they are done.

Roast your peppers by placing them directly on a gas grill or stove top and rotate till all skin is blackened.  Immediately place in a glass container and cover to allow your peppers to "sweat" for several minutes (basically till they are cool enough to handle).  Once cool, remove the blackened skin as best possible.  Do not rinse or you'll lose flavor.

In a food processor open your roasted peppers over the processor to allow the liquid that accumulated to pour in.  Remove seed and ribs and discard.  Add your dehydrated cashews and whiz till you get a smooth paste.

Spoon your mix onto a lined dehydrator tray (the Teflex sheets work well but you can use parchment paper) and smooth out into a thin layer.  Dehydrate at 145-155 for 15-24 hours.  At the half way mark, flip your crackers over onto the mesh tray (take away the Teflex/Parchment paper) and continue dehydrating till there is no more moisture. 

Store crackers in an airtight container in the fridge.

*I am using an Excalibur brand dehydrator.