Homemade Potato Chips - Pt. I (Microwave)

This round of dumpstering, I made a mistake. I took WAY too many potatoes and onions. I thought I'd be able to give them away to friends and co-workers (which I did), but I was still left with far too many. Taking more than you can use is generally frowned-upon in the dumpstering world because other people may dive in your dumpster.

However, wasting food is also frowned upon, and I've never seen evidence of anyone diving in my preferred dumpster, so I don't feel TOO horrible about it. Plus, this was around Thanksgiving (prime dumpster season), so I didn't even go in the dumpster - just the overflow shopping carts around it. I think it's safe to say that no one went hungry as a result of my potatoes and onions.

Having a surplus of random or hard-to-use foods is a regular occurrence. So, you need to get inventive so that you're not stuck being bored by your meals.

After making a LOT of dishes with potatoes, I needed to figure out something else to do with them to preserve them. After craving chips one day, I decided that I needed to learn how to make them myself.


HOMEMADE POTATO CHIPS
(vegan, gluten-free)

Ingredients

0.5 bags Yukon Gold potatoes (approx. 4 potatoes)
1 tbsp (or less) of olive oil/veggie oil/cooking spray
Sea salt to taste (optional w/ lime juice, cayenne, garlic salt, pepper, sugar, etc.)

Peel potatoes, compost skins.
Thinly slice potatoes (2mm or thinner).
Pour oil/spray on plate.
Coat potatoes with oil (you can do this in a ziploc baggie, too).
Add salt, spices, juice, etc. to make your chips yummy.
Place in microwave until browned 5-9 min. (my microwave took 7-9 min. on average)
Place chips on a separate plate to dry (can put paper towel down to absorb oil).

Some advice:

1) Method - This process is VERY trial-and-error, and takes a lot of time for not a lot of chips. Patience is key. There are other methods of making potato chips (oven-crisped and deep frying are popular), but this was my first try, so I can't speak to other ways of production.

2) Toppings - I tried several toppings on my chips. Lime juice & cilantro turned out VERY sour, vinegar was nice (a little goes a long way), salt & pepper was best, sugar was good (but burns easily), garlic powder was okay, and cayenne pepper was great. Get creative!

3) Oils - Whatever oil you choose will determine how greasy your chips are and WILL effect the taste. Good olive oil was my favorite tasting, but it was hard to make the chips super-crispy. Spray olive oil and regular veggie oil made the chips lighter, but didn't taste as good.

4) Presentation - Your chips are going to look UGLY. They'll taste great, but they'll look ugly, burnt, or inedible. Be brave.

Makes about 1 small ziploc bag of chips. Properly wrapped, they'll last a few months.

Stay tuned for more potato chip experiments soon!

Ingredients not dumpstered or donated: olive oil, spices