Pepperoni Chips

I picked up a keto cookbook recently and found a recipe for pepperoni chips. This is inspired by that find.

I made these on a Saturday afternoon so that I would have them for my late-night Twilight Zone binge on Hulu.

I loved them after they were first cooked, but I REALLY loved them after storing them in the refrigerator for a couple of hours - which seemed to crisp them up further. The pepperoni chips have a texture much like a light-thin potato chip and feature a bacon-like crunch with all the great seasonings of pepperoni.

They are a great replacement for carb-loaded potato chips and I highly recommend these as a snack for anyone counting carbs or trying to stick to a keto diet.

I didn’t go crazy on these like I would Cool Ranch Doritos and wipe out an entire bag in one sitting. Just a couple handfuls of these chips and I had my snack fix. The seasoning, saltiness and heft from fat content go a long way, so it would be hard to eat copious amounts of these in one sitting even though they are delicious.

I made three pans of these and now have a few days supply in the fridge. These can be eaten alone but they also make for a great replacement for crumbled bacon as a topping.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE
Serves 2 to 3, 15 minutes

40 pepperoni slices

Place, cook
Place pepperoni slices 1/2 an inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 425° for 5 to 6 minutes, remove and flip pepperoni. Return to oven for 2 to 3 minutes or until crisp.

Drain, cool and serve
Place pepperoni on a paper towel-lined plate and drain excess fat, let cool to room temperature, then serve.

Chicken Tenders with Peppers and Onions

This plate is a perfect example of how I have been preparing diners with less carbs in mind. In the past, I would have served this — sauted onions, peppers and chicken — over a heaping mound of white rice. Afterword, I would have needed a nap and then a wheelchair to get around in until I had digested some of it.

I prepared:
 6 chicken tenders
1/2 of a sliced medium onion
1 sliced red bell pepper
All cooked over medium heat in a little olive oil with salt and pepper to taste. (I ate half for the meal, and saved the other half for leftovers.) I also ate a whole avocado as an added bonus.

I don't know the exact carb count but it's pretty low. I think around 20 grams. I'm still pretty new at the carb counting game but that is my best estimate.
Low carb or not, sauteed onions and red peppers are a favorite of mine. The sweetness that comes out during a 6 to 10 minutes saute in a little olive oil with salt and pepper really hits the spot. They were the star here, the chicken was just filler, especially now that the ultimate filler — rice — had been left out.

Eat well, cook often ...