Bring over chips and salsa...

When you go to a party the easiest thing to bring over is chips and salsa. Mostly because you buy them at the store probably 20 minutes before arriving to the party. Making this is so little work but lots of patience.

So the healthy version of the famous "Chips N' Salsa" is a total pleasure. There is no appetizer as simple and filling as this one.  Obviously we need to get this straight the salsa is raw, there is no oil, no salt and definitely no preservatives.

The fun part was figuring out what to make chips out of. Then I remembered that in Puerto Rico I used to make chips out of root vegetables, green bananas and green plantains. But then again these are fried so I had to find the perfect temperature in my oven to recreate these scrumptious chips without the oil. Another thing to consider is the thickness so I used my food processor (A.K.A. my favorite tool) with the slicer attachment this almost guarantees the same thickness for each slice. You can also use a mandolin.

For the purpose of this specific experiment I only made Malanga chips but as long as they are root vegetables they can stand the heat without the oil. Something I made and regretted was sweet potato chips  they turn bitter and nasty my advice:  DON'T USE SWEET POTATO! 

Making your basic salsa isn't hard but how about a little more veggies and a little less heavy.  Keeping the lime/lemon, onions, peppers and tomatoes I wanted more than typical salsa. I decided that good additions would be yellow zucchini, celery and broccoli but you can take your pick of veggies that you want to hide always remember that the texture is very important. Of course I used the blender to make it less chunky and to be able to hide the cauliflower and broccoli from my hubby.

This salsa requires some time in the fridge before serving so, either make it the day before or make it with at least 2 hours of "curing" think of it like an escabeche or ceviche.  The flavors need time to marry and get to the point of  sauce heaven.

Enough writing lets get to the good stuff.

Tools:

Food Processor with slicer attachment/ mandolin, baking sheets, cooling racks, Blender, Zip-Lock bags

Ingredients:

 For the chips:
 3 medium pieces of  Malanga root
               (if you don't know what this is click it)
1 teaspoon garlic powder

For the Salsa:
 3-4 Tomatoes
1 small yellow zucchini
3-5 stemmed florets of  broccoli (if you don't like this raw steam it fist)
1/4 cup of chopped celery
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup of filtered water
3 baby bell peppers seeded and sliced
1/2 cup onion (I used yellow another option is white or red)
1 bunch of fresh cilantro
For those NOT ON DETOX you can add 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 F degrees
2. Peal the malanga and slice it in your food processor
3. Place the cooling racks on the baking sheets (this will help the veggie not to stick to your pan) 
4. Spread the chips on the rack and put in the oven for about 25-30 minutes (keep an eye they can be burnt easily). While these are getting deliciously crunchy make the sauce.
 5. Add the tomatoes, lemon juice, peppers and onions to your blender and pulse until you get a sauce consistency. remove and set aside.
6. add the zucchini, , broccoli, the cilantro and the water and blend until smooth.
7. Add the tomato mixture and blend until everything is mixed together and you are unable to distinguish any veggies.
8. Place in a bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving
9. When the chips are ready remove from oven and let sit until cooled this will reduce the amount of humidity in the bag when you store them. No one likes soggy chips!
10. Put the chips inside the bags and seal them with as little air as possible this will keep them from getting soggy. An air tight container might work but nothing as mighty as a bag.

After waiting..... DIP AND EAT!

You can make different kinds of chips with different root veggies and spices if you want a specific taste make spice mixes ahead of time and use the Spice mix instead of the garlic powder.  

**Sorry about not having  any pictures I promise I'll edit when I make it again... they were gone like the wind, But if You make them please post bellow!**

Enjoy and remember that Food is for Sharing!