I can feel the change of seasons a little bit more every day. Cooler nights mean we’re closing the window a bit more in the evening. Spider webs everywhere (the biggest ugliest spiders I’ve ever seen!) and make me a bit more cautious when I enter my garden area. My canning shelf and freezer are full.
Still, the cucumbers keep coming.
I’ve made dill pickles, sweet garlic dill pickles, bread and butter pickles, cucumber relish, I’ve given them away, and we’ve been eating them in salads almost every night for ages.
And they still keep coming.
I was looking for some new ideas for how to use the never-ending cucumber supply a few days ago and came across a few recipes for dehydrated cucumber chips. I decided to adapt them for my own use and give it a go. One of the advantages of having an abundance of garden-fresh produce is that one is more likely to try new and different ways to use them.
These chips turned out to be delicious! I doubled this recipe and made another batch the next day and now I’m eagerly waiting for more cukes so I can make even more.
I talk a lot about avoiding processed foods and eating a plant-based and natural diet. I try to do this for the most part but there’s one thing I haven’t been able to give up: my nightly snack of cheddar flavoured mini rice chips. These cucumber chips might just be the ticket for helping me overcome my rice chip addiction.
Ingredients
- Approximately 4 cups sliced (about 1/4 inch) cucumbers. Mine were of the size that I used 2 for a batch)
- 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- Chopped dill (to taste)
Instructions
Mix apple cider vinegar, salt, and chopped dill together in bowl.
Add cucumbers and mix everything together. I used my hands as it was easiest.
Put on dehydrator trays and set temperature to 135 degrees. This is the dehydrator I have.
The time needed to dry the chips will vary based on the thickness of the slices, water content, humidity etc. My first batch took about four hours. I found that I wanted slightly thicker slices so my next batch took a few hours more.
Wow. I would like to try this.
I hate mowing this time of year just because of the spiders. I’ve had them fall on me, hit me in the face and roll down my front and into my lap. ewww.
You mentioned cheddar rice chips. Could we season the cucumber chips with other stuff, like grated cheddar or parmesan or such like? Or other seasonings?
Certainly you could use other herbs or seasonings, Karen! Not sure about grated cheese though….might be worth a try.