Every person on the planet who is into healthy eating knows that regularly including broccoli in the diet is a wonderful idea. Baked, broiled, steamed, grilled, stir-fried or raw, there are so many ways to consume the said superfood. But did you know that it’s also something that you may enjoy in the form of chips?

If you cannot imagine turning broccoli into chips, that’s most likely it’s because you are picturing the florets. No, the florets are not the ones that can be turned into chips, but those stalks that you tend to throw away.

According to nutrition experts, the stalks are just as good for you as the florets themselves. Actually, they say that the stalks are slightly more nutritious than the florets because they tend to pack a little more fiber, iron, calcium and vitamin C. Just imagine how much nutrients are wasted whenever you dispose of the stalks!

But by turning those stalks into chips, nothing good for the health is flushed down the drain — you can supply your body with lots of health-giving nutrients in a really enjoyable and mouthwatering manner.

Just because you are serving broccoli for lunch or dinner doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to turn the stalks into chips right away. What you need to do if you’re not in the mood for chip making is stash those stalks in a Ziploc bag and keep them in the freezer where they can stay fresh until you’re ready to make chips out of them.

Let’s now take a look at the hassle-free recipe for making broccoli stalk chips:

Ingredients:

Broccoli stalks

Extra virgin olive oil

Finely-ground sea salt

Finely-ground black pepper

Directions:

-Before you do anything, get your oven preheated to 350°F (175°C). 

-Now reach for the broccoli stalks and wash them thoroughly under running water. Shake off excess water. 

-Carefully slice the broccoli stalks into thin coins. The thinner you slice them, the crunchier the resulting chips will be. But make sure that you slice them up into coins with equal thickness. 

-If you have a mandoline lying somewhere in your kitchen, feel free to use it. It will make the slicing task easier, and it will allow you to end up with chips with consistent thickness. 

-Reach for baking sheet large enough to accommodate all the slices of broccoli stalks. Spread them across the baking sheet, making sure that everything is in a single layer only for even cooking. 

-Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle a little sea salt and black pepper. 

-Stash the baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes. Halfway, carefully flip the coins over. 

-Once cooked, place the baking sheet on a wire rack and allow your homemade broccoli stalk chips to cool completely. Afterwards, transfer to a serving plate and enjoy. 

-Now do you believe that it’s so easy to turn those seemingly useless broccoli stalks into delicious and nutritious chips? The next time you make another batch, feel free to use any seasoning of your liking, be it onion salt, thyme, basil, paprika or cayenne pepper. You are only limited by your own imagination!