Sweet Potato and Beet Chips...Who knew?

What you'll come to find if you accompany me on this virtual unveiling of my soul and that which feeds it, is that, one of my few real loves is cooking; finding, making and re-creating recipes'. I've been doing just that quite a lot lately. Needless to say, I've also been working out a lot more. So it goes...

It was while watching an episode of Giada on The Food Network I saw, what I only hitherto heard of but never tried, Sweet potato and beet chips! I know!!! I was a sceptic to start with, but in the spirit of trying new things I made them, and you know what? Wow! I've only ever juiced beets and sweet potatoes weren't to my taste...until these chips. You know what the proverbial "they" say about changing the way you look at something and the thing itself changes? This would be one of those moments.

Ingredients

2 sweet potatoes
2 beets
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon very finely minced fresh rosemary leaves
2 tablespoons salt
10 cups vegetable oil (I used 3 to 4 cups of canola oil in a fry daddy®)

Directions

Special Equipment: V-slicer or mandoline, deep-fry thermometer

Wash the vegetables and dry very well. Set aside.

In a small bowl combine the garlic, rosemary and salt. Set aside.

Warm the oil in a large pot over high heat to 350 degrees F.

Meanwhile, trim 1-inch off the end of each sweet potato. Using the V-slicer or mandoline, slice the sweet potatoes into very thin slices, about 1/8-inch thick. Trim 1-inch off the root end of the beets. Using the V-slicer or mandoline slice the beets into very thin slices, about 1/8-inch thick.

When the oil is hot add about a quarter of the sweet potato slices. Let fry until golden and the bubbling has almost completely subsided, about 2 to 3 minutes. Using a mesh sieve or slotted spoon remove the chips to a paper-towel-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with some of the garlic, rosemary, and salt mixture. Continue with the remaining sweet potatoes.

Transfer to a serving plate.

Next, fry 1/4 of the beets. Let fry until curled at the edges and most of the bubbling has subsided, about 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the beets to another paper-towel-lined baking sheet and sprinkle with salt mixture. Continue with the remaining beets. Let cool and transfer to a serving plate.